: 


THK 


WONDERFUL  STORIES 


OF 


FUZ-BUZ  THE   FLY 


MOTHER    GRABEM 


SPIDER  . 


PHILADELPHIA 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO..- 

1867. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 

J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &   CO., 
In  the  Clerk'a  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania, 


MRS.  GRABEM  AND  FUZ-BUZ. 


RS.  GRABEM  was  a  hairy  spider  who  knit 
cobwebs  and  caught  flies  and  brought  up  a 
small  household  of  nine  young  spiders. 
When  I  first  knew  this  happy  family,  and  learned  all  the 
wonderful  things  they  heard  and  did,  their  home  was  as 
pretty  a  place  as  a  spider  need  want.  Their  web  was 
spun  to  and  fro  across  the  crotch  of  an  old  apple  tree, 
and  when  they  looked  down  they  could  see  the  green 
grass,  and  when  they  looked  up  they  could  see  the  great 
jolly  red  apples  which  must  have  looked  to  those  young 
spiders  just  as  the  stars  look  to  our  own  young  folks. 

On  one  side  of  their  web,  Mrs.  Grabem  had  knit  with 
great  labour  a  long  dark  cave  all  of  cobweb,  where  the 
family  slept  at  night,  and  where  they  lay  trembling  while 
the  great  winds  blew  and  the  tree  rocked  and  bent. 

One  fine  breezy  morning  in  June,   when   the    leaves 

3 


M592153 


4  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

above  were  clapping  their  palms  for  joy  at  growing,  and 
when  the  birds  were  tossing  little  love  songs  to  one  an 
other,  the  old  lady  sat  mending  her  web  which  a  great 
wasp  had  broken.  Meanwhile,  the  young  spiders  chased 
each  other  along  one  thread  and  down  another  and 
shook  the  dew  from  the  web  as  they  played. 

"Ah  !"  said  the  eldest  of  them,  as  he  saw  it  sparkle  in 
the  sun,  "these  must  be  the  diamonds  we  have  heard 
about." 

"No,"  said  another,  "they  look  to  me  blue,  they  are 
turquoises." 

"  Geese  !"  said  a  third,  who  was  on  a  distant  part  of  the 
web,  "  they  are  drops  of  gold,  any  one  can  see  they  are 
yellow." 

At  this  they  fell  to  abusing  each  other,  when  suddenly 
the  old  lady  cried  out,  "Foolish  children,  if  you  change 
places  you  will  see  that  each  of  you  is  right.  You  make 
me  think  of  a  tale  which  my  grandmother  used  to  tell 
me.  It  is  a  story  which  has  come  down  in  our  family 
from  your  ancestor  who  gave  Robert  Bruce  such  very 
good  advice  without  ever  saying  a  word.  You  know 
that  the  king  was  looking  at  the  spider  when  he  was 
swinging  a  line,  striving  to  fasten  it.  The  spider  having 
tried  six  times  was  about  to  stop,  for  before  this  spiders 
never  tried  more  than  six  times.  But  when  he  looked  up 
and  saw  the  king  he  knew  just  what  was  needed  to  give 
him  courage,  and  therefore  it  was  that  the  spider  made 


FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY.  5 

one  more  mighty  effort,  and  so  at  last  made  fast  the 
web. 

"  Thus  you  see  that  our  ancestor  invented  trying  seven 
times,  although  I  think  the  Bruce  usually  gets  more  credit 
than  the  spider.  When  this  wise  spider  grew  older  he 
went  to  Spain  in  the  helmet  of  the  good  Lord  Douglas 
who  was  killed  by  the  Moors,  so  that  they  got  his  helmet 
and  your  great-great-great-grandfather,  who  kept  quiet 
enough  in  the  darkest  corner  until  he  was  carried  to 
Granada,  where  he  lived  a  long  while  and  found  the  flies 
many,  and  tender,  and  of  good  flavour.  And  this  was  one 
of  his  stories  which  he  had  gotten  at  Granada,  when  he 
lay  among  the  Moors." 

Then  all  the  young  spiders  listened,  and  the  old  mother 
spider  began. 

"  One  night  the  King  Almanzor  was  walking  alone 
when  he  overheard  three  water-carriers  gossiping. 

"  '  I  would  not  be  the  King,'  said  Amric,  the  first  who 
spoke.  '  Every  morning  before  prayers  I  peep  through  a 
crack  in  the  wall  of  the  Palace  garden,  and  always  I  see 
the  King  grave  and  sober,  just  when  the  sun  is  rising 
red  and  the  birds  are  laughing  and  telling  their  dreams. 
I  would  not  be  a  King,  to  look  sober  at  dawn  every  day 
in  the  year.  A  grave  man  is  the  King.' 

"'Bosh!'  said  the  second,  whose  name  was  Hassan. 
'  The  King  is  a  sad  man.  He  must  have  done  some  evil 
in  his  youth,  for  just  before  noon-day  prayers  I  look  into 


6  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

the  Palace  garden  from  my  window,  and  lo  !  always  the 
King  kneels  weeping  at  the  great  fountain,  which  we 
call  the  forest  of  waters.' 

"'And  I,'  cried  Amrah,  'think  ye  both  wrong.  A 
merry  man  is  King  Almanzor.  For  ever  at  evening, 
when  the  minarets  call  to  prayer,  I  have  seen  the  King  at 
the  fountain  laughing,  always  laughing,  always  glad.  A 
foolish  man  must  the  King  be  to  laugh  at  nothing.' 

"  '  He's  too  sober,'  said  one. 

"  'Too  sad,'  cried  the  second. 

"  'Too  merry,'  said  the  third. 

"  Then  each  held  to  his  own  opinion,  and  abused  the 
others,  until  from  words  they  came  to  blows. 

"This  roused  the  guard,  who  seized  upon  the  whole 
three,  and  was  taking  them  away,  when  the  King  whis 
pered  to  the  Captain  to  bring  them  to  the  Palace  next 
day. 

"Accordingly  in  the  morning  they  were  brought  to  the 
King  in  the  garden  before  prayer  time. 

"  '  I  hear,'  said  Almanzor,  '  that  you  talked  of  me  last 
night.  It  is  said  that  you  think  me  sober,  sad,  and 
foolish.' 

"Not  one  of  them  answered. 

"'I  will  think  of  your  crime-,  and  how  you  shall  be 
punished.  Begone,  and  return  hither  at  noon.' 

"At  noon-tide  they  were  brought  again  to  the  King, 


FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT.  7 

who  said  to  them  gravely,  '  You  have  abused  the  King. 
You  shall  die  to-morrow.' 

"'Woe  is  me!"  cried  they  all,  and  as  they  were  led 
away  the  King  stayed  weeping  by  the  water's  edge. 

"But  at  evening,  the  guard  took  them  out  yet  once 
more,  and  this  time  the  King  was  merry,  and  the  sound 
of  music  mocked  their  sadness. 

"  '  You  are  pardoned,'  said  the  King  Almanzor.  'Judge 
not  lightly  of  me  again.  In  the  morning  I  reflect  on  the 
crimes  which  I  have  to  judge,  and  then  I  am  grave.  At 
noon  I  condemn  some  to  die,  and  then  ever  I  weep.  But 
at  night-fall  I  pardon  the  least  guilty,  and  then  always  I 
am  glad  at  heart.  Be  ye  also  merry  to-night,  and  to 
morrow  wiser.' 

"And  thus  saying,  the  King  gave  them  a  purse  of 
gold  and  turned  away." 

"What  a  little  story,"  cried  the  young  spiders. 

"  Hush !"  answered  Mrs.  Grabem.  "  Now  I  must  mend 
this  hole  in  our  cobweb.  But,  bless  me  !  run  to  the  den. 
Here  comes  a  big  fly." 

Quick  as  could  be  they  all  ran  into  the  dark  passage 
and  Mrs.  Grabem  stayed  at  the  door.  Pretty  soon  the  fly 
flew  near.  He  was  a  handsome  gay  fellow  all  over  gold 
and  purple  and  sparkling  in  the  sun-light.  He  thought 
he  would  have  a  little  of  the  nice  gum  which  flowed  from 
the  apple  tree  bark,  so  he  flew  nearer,  but  just  as  he  alighted 
his  legs  caught  in  the  net  and  then  what  a  fuss  he  made! 


8  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

Buz,  Buz,  and  pulled  and  bit,  but  it  was  in  vain,  for 
he  was  held  fast  by  a  long  cobweb  which  allowed  him  to 
go  a  little  way  but  no  further. 

Then  Mrs.  Grabem  ran  out,  and  pulled  at  the  web, 
and  drew  him  near,  when  all  the  little  spiders  began  to 
sing,  "  We  shall  have  a  good  breakfast." 

"  What !  do  you  mean  to  eat  me  ?"  said  Fuz-buz,  the 
Fly.  "  I  never  hurt  you." 

"Oh  no,"  said  Mrs.  Grabem,  "you  will  do  us  a  great 
deal  of  good  very  soon.  You  are  a  queer-looking  fly 
any  how.  I  hope  you  won't  disagree  with  my  children. 
Where  do  you  live  ?" 

"  In  Spain,"  replied  Fuz-buz  proudly.  "  I  am  a  Span 
ish  fly." 

"Dear  me,"  cried  one  of  the  spiders,  "perhaps  you  can 
tell  us  some  stories." 

"  I  know  a  thousand  fairy  tales,"  said  Fuz-buz. 

"Oh  mamma !"  said  one  fat  little  spider,  "It  would  be 
a  shame  to  eat  a  thousand  stories  all  at  once.  Let  us 
keep  him  until  he  tells  us  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
tales,  and  then  we  can  eat  him  afterwards." 

"That  I  call  good  advice,"  cried  Mrs.  Grabem,  and  at 
once  she  fastened  the  cobweb  so  that  poor  Fuz-buz  could 
walk  just  a  little  way  from  the  web  and  no  farther. 

"And  now,"  said  she,  "twice  a  day  you  must  tell  my 
children  a  story.  But  never  let  me  find  you  trying  to  get 
away  or  I  will  eat  you  in  a  moment." 


LADT  GOLDEN  HAIR.  9 

The  young  spiders  could  hardly  wait. 

" Quick!"  they  cried,  "  a  story!"  "  a  story !" 

"What  about?"  replied  Fuz-buz,  glad  to  be  spared. 

"Oh  about  men,  big  men  like  Robert  Bruce,"  said 
they,  "  and  about  a  Princess  too." 

"Very  well,"  returned  Fuz-buz,  "Don't  eat  me,  and  I 
will  tell  you  no  end  of  stories  and  the  first  shall  be 
about 

LADY  GOLDEN  HAIR  AND  HER  Two  LOVERS,  PRINCE 
CLEVER  AND  PRINCE  STURDY. 

"A  long  while  ago,  and  far  far  away,  a  lady  lived 
who  had  such  beautiful  locks  that  the  people  named  her 
Lady  Golden  Hair.  Folks  said  that  when  she  was  little, 
her  fairy  Godmother  had  so  well  woven  three  strands  of 
sunshine  with  her  curly  tresses  that  it  never  got  loose 
again,  and  I  suppose  this  must  have  been  so,  because 
when  at  night  she  walked  in  the  garden  all  the  flowers 
woke  up  and  looked  about  thinking  the  daylight  had 
come. 

"All  day  long  her  maidens  combed  her  hair  with 
combs  of  gold,  and  at  evening  sang  to  her  of  the  beautiful 
Prince  who  would  one  day  come  across  the  seas  and  win 
her  love  for  evermore. 

"Many  came  and  looked  into  her  deep  brown  eyes, 
but  none  suited  her,  and  so  she  shook  her  golden  hair, 
and  they  went  their  ways  again. 

A  * 


io  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

"At  length  her  Father  the  King  said  she  must  make 
up  her  mind  to  marry  somebody. 

"The  Princess  said,  'I  will  marry  no  one  who  does 
not  own  a  Roc's  egg,  and  no  one  who  has  not  kissed  me, 
and  no  one  who  has  not  a  lock  of  hair  to  show  exactly 
like  my  own.  And  no  one  shall  kiss  me,  and  no  one 
ever  shall  have  a  lock  of  my  hair,  and  where  on  earth 
will  any  one  get  a  Roc's  egg  ?  and  so  how  shall  I  ever  be 
married?  No,  I  never  will  marry  anybody/ 

"At  this  her  Father  was  in  despair,  but  as  he 
thought  that  perhaps  some  one  might  be  bright  enough 
to  outwit  the  Princess,  he  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
everywhere  that  the  Lady  Golden  Hair  would  marry  the 
man  who  had  kissed  her,  and  who  could  show  a  lock  of 
hair  just  like  hers,  and  who  owned  a  Roc's  egg. 

"When  her  lovers  heard  this  they  all  cried  and  went 
away,  except  two  who  were  named  Prince  Clever  and 
Prince  Sturdy. 

"Prince  Clever  was  handsome  and  tall,  and  very 
cunning,  because  he  was  a  Sorcerer's  son,  but  Prince 
Sturdy  was  brave  and  straightforward,  and  had  honest 
eyes  of  his  own  which  were  brown  as  garnets  and  as 
steady  as  stars. 

"Now  when  these  two  heard  about  the  Princess,  and 
what  must  be  done  to  marry  her,  Prince  Clever  said, 
'  I  am  so  cunning  that  I  shall  be  sure  to  succeed  ;'  but 


FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT.  n 

Prince  Sturdy  said,  '  Thorns  are  roses  to  those  who  love  ! 
I  will  try.' 

"When  the  Princess  saw  them  she  wished  silently 
that  Prince  Sturdy  might  succeed  ;  still  she  only  said, 
'  How  foolish  you  both  must  be.  Do  either  of  you  own  a 
Roc's  egg?'  and  then  she  bade  them  good-bye  and  they 
kissed  their  hands  to  her  and  rode  away  by  different 
paths  till  each  of  them  entered  a  wood  where  they  dis 
mounted,  and  thought  how  to  get  a  Roc's  egg.  '  Then/ 
said  Clever,  '  I  see  ;'  but  Sturdy  said,  '  I  will  ride  till  I 
find  one.' 

"About  a  thousand  miles  away,  across  a  great  sea, 
lived  a  Roc  who  had  just  laid  an  egg  as  big  as  a  house 
and  as  hard  as  marble.  No  one  knew  where  she  lived 
except  a  witch,  to  whose  cave  in  a  great  hill  Prince 
Clever  rode  swiftly. 

"Because  he  was  a  Sorcerer's  son  the  witch  came 
out  to  speak  to  him.  But,  meanwhile,  Prince  Sturdy 
having  become  lost  in  the  woods  rode  on,  until  at  night 
fall  he  heard  voices. 

"Then  he  alighted  and  clambered  over  the  hill  and 
lay  quiet  until  he  heard  to  his  delight  the  witch  telling 
Clever  where  to  get  the  Roc's  egg. 

"  As  quick  as  could  be  Sturdy  got  on  his  horse  and 
rode  away  as  hard  as  ever  a  man  could  ride.  By  and 
by  he  came  to  the  sea,  where  he  hired  a  ship,  and  sailed 


12  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

many  days  to  a  desolate  land  where  was  nothing  but 
hills  of  gray  sand. 

"Here  he  went  on  shore  and  sent  the  ship  away. 
Then,  drawing  his  sword,  he  climbed  a  great  sand  hill 
and  after  two  days  reached  the  top.  There  he  saw  in 
a  mighty  nest  the  great  egg,  as  white  and  smooth  as 
ivory. 

"As  soon  as  the  Roc  flew  away  to  get  her  dinner  the 
Prince  came  near  and  began  to  crack  a  big  hole  in  the 
egg  with  his  sword.  Presently  all  the  insides  of  the  egg 
ran  out  of  the  hole  and  nearly  drowned  him.  When 
it  was  well  emptied  and  the  whole  of  it  had  flowed  away 
to  the  sea,  the  Prince  put  his  bag  of  cakes  into  the  egg, 
and  then  his  sword,  and  at  last  squeezed  himself  in. 

"He  was  just  able  to  thrust  his  turban  into  the  hole, 
when  the  Roc  flew  home  to  her  nest. 

"When  she  left  her  nest  once  more  Sturdy  made  a 
nice  little  opening  as  big  as  a  pea,  so  that  he  could  just 
see  through  it.  And  what  think  you  he  saw  ? 

"  There  were  two  ships  on  the  sea,  and  Prince  Clever 
with  a  hundred  men.  Very  soon  they  came  up  the  hill 
and  began  to  push  the  egg  and  to  heave  it  over  with 
crow-bars  and  beams  of  wood,  until  it  rolled  to  the  edge 
of  the  sand  heap.  Then  to  Prince  Sturdy's  horror  the 
egg  began  to  turn  over  and  over  down  the  hill  to  the  sea. 

"Fast  it  went,  and  faster  and  faster,  while  Sturdy 
tumbled  over  and  over,  and  was  on  his  head  one  minute, 


LADT  GOLDEN  HAIR.  13 

and  on  his  heels  the  next,  till  at  last  splash  went  the  egg 
into  the  water  and  floated  lightly  on  the  rolling  waves. 

"Very  soon  the  sailors  tied  a  rope  around  the  egg, 
and  fastened  the  other  end  to  their  ships,  and  sailed  away 
rejoicing. 

"In  this  manner  they  sailed  many  weeks,  until  poor 
Sturdy  had  eaten  his  last  cake  and  was  nearly  starved  to 
death. 

"When  at  last  they  came  to  land,  the  egg  was  hoisted 
on  to  a  huge  car,  and  a  hundred  horses  drew  it  to  the 
Palace  of  the  Princess  Golden  Hair,  while  Prince  Clever 
rode  alongside  as  happy  as  could  be. 

"  When  the  lady  saw  Clever  and  the  egg  she  was  ready 
to  cry  with  vexation,  because  she  knew  there  was  only 
one  Roc's  egg  in  the  world,  and  because  Prince  Clever 
had  gotten  it. 

"  Soon  her  father  called  her  to  welcome  the  Prince,  and 
every  one  went  to  see  the  egg,  while  the  music  sounded 
and  the  people  hurrahed  for  Prince  Clever. 

"As  soon  as  he  saw  the  lady  he  ran  and  knelt  and 
said,  '  Princess,  here  is  my  Roc's  egg.' 

"  Then  a  voice  was  heard  saying,  '  No,  it  is  mine !' 

"  '  Who  spoke?'  said  Clever. 

"  '  I,'  said  the  voice,  '  It  is  mine  !' 

"  But  no  one  could  tell  where  the  voice  came  from. 

"At  last  the  Chief  Magician  cried  aloud,  'Who  dares 
to  mock  the  King  ?' 


I4  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY, 

"  Then  said  the  voice,  '  Oh  great  Magician,  who  owns 
the  house,  he  wrho  lives  in  it,  or  he  who  looks  at  it  ?' 

"  '  He  who  lives  in  it,'  answered  the  Magician. 

"  '  Then  it  is  my  egg,'  said  Sturdy,  as  he  broke  away 
the  shell  and  stepped  out  of  the  hole  in  the  side  of  the 

egg- 

"  '  Ah,'  said  the  lady  to  herself,  '  what  beautiful  eyes 

he  has.'  But  Prince  Clever  smote  his  breast,  and  the 
people  hurrahed  for  Prince  Sturdy. 

"Meanwhile  Sturdy  knelt  to  the  Lady.  'Ah,'  said  he, 
'  it  is  easy  to  live  in  a  Roc's  egg,  or  to  storm  a  city  for  a 
Lady's  love,  but  to  kiss  her  and  to  find  hair  like  thine, 
woe  is  me  !  How  can  these  things  be  done  ?' 

"As  for  Clever,  he  smiled,  and  said  to  himself,  'It  is 
hard  to  bring  a  Roc's  egg  home,  but  to  cheat  a  woman 
with  a  lock  of  hair  and  to  steal  a  kiss  is  easy.' 

"After  Prince  Clever  had  eaten  and  rested  the  two 
Princes  kissed  their  hands  to  the  lady  and  rode  away  once 
more  to  find  a  tress  of  hair  which  should  be  like  that  of 
the  Princess. 

"Now  what  did  Prince  Clever  do  to  get  the  lady? 
He  went  into  the  country  to  see  his  fairy  godmother  and 
to  ask  her  advice,  and  this  was  what  she  told  him  to  do. 

"  He  was  to  dress  himself  like  a  pedlar  and  was  to 
take  with  him  a  beautiful  great  opal,  and  afterwards  he 
was  to  do  other  things  which  presently  you  shall  hear  of. 

"When  the  Fairy  told  him  all  these  things  he  said, 


LADT  GOLDEN  HAIR.  15 

i  Ah  Godmother,  how  shall  I  make  my  nose  long  and 
my  mouth  big  and  ugly  so  as  to  be  like  a  real  pedlar  ?' 

"  '  Well  my  dear,'  she  replied,  '  that  is  easy,'  and  so  say 
ing  she  put  a  forefinger  into  the  two  corners  of  his  mouth 
and  pulled  it  until  one  corner  was  under  each  ear. 


"  '  I  think  that  will  do,'  she  said,  '  and  as  to  your  nose, 
take  a  pinch  of  this  snuff.' 

"No  sooner  had  he  done  as  she  desired  than  he  began 
to  sneeze  so  hard  that  in  five  minutes  the  end  of  his  deli 
cate  nose  was  blown  out  into  a  great  round  purple  knob, 


1 6  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

which  was  so  bright  that  he  could  not  keep  from  squint 
ing  to  get  a  look  at  it. 

"  'I  do  not  think  any  one  will  know  you  now,'  said  the 
Fairy,  '  but  be  careful  not  to  open  your  mouth  very  wide 
or  possibly  your  head  may  fall  off  backwards.' 

"'Upon  my  word,'  cried  the  Prince  when  he  looked 
at  his  face  in  a  smooth  pool  of  water,  *  If  I  be  as  cunning 
as  I  am  ugly  I  shall  surely  win  the  Lady  !' 

"The  Fairy  then  gave  him  a  little  red  cloak,  and  bade 
him  walk  like  an  old  man  and  be  careful. 

"  Finally  she  placed  in  his  basket  a  gold  box  contain 
ing  the  magical  opal. 

"When  he  had  left  her  she  drew  a  ring  on  the  ground 
and  stood  within  it,  and  enchanted  the  Lady  Golden  Hair 
with  wicked  words,  so.  that  for  four  days  and  nights  she 
had  no  sleep,  because  the  instant  her  lids  closed  she 
dreamed  that  nine  beautiful  ladies  were  kissing  Prince 
Sturdy,  and  that  he  was  also  kissing  one  of  them  and 
the  one  he  kissed  was  not  herself. 

"So  it  was  that  all  these  days  she  lay  awake  angry, 
and  all  the  while  Prince  Clever  rode  fiercely  to  her  gar 
den  gate. 

"Near  by  he  hid  his  horse,  and  walking  like  an  old 
man  came  to  the  Palace  slowly  and  asked  to  see  the 
Lady. 

"The  guard  laughed  at  his  nose  and  told  him  the 
Princess  was  ill  and  could  not  sleep. 


J^#*  / V^§S^  »/  ^ 

^^/LTJ''^ 


LADY  GOLDEN  HAIR.  17 

";It  is  well,'  answered  he,  'I  have  a  charm  here  to 
bring  her  sleep/ 

"As  soon  as  this  was  known  he  was  quickly  ordered 
to  the  chamber  of  the  Princess,  where  resting  on  a  couch 
she  lay,  while  her  ladies  fanned  her  with  fans  made  of 
fresh  flowers  which  every  ten  minutes  were  brought  to 
them  by  slaves. 

"Although  she  felt  very  badly  from  want  of  sleep  no 
sooner  did  she  see  the  Prince  with  his  new  face  than  she 
began  to  laugh  until  she  cried  with  mirth.  '  For  tears/ 
said  Saadi  the  poet,  '  are  the  diamonds  of  affliction  and 
the  pearls  of  merriment.' 

"After  a  time  however  the  Princess  grew  silent, 
although  she  did  not  dare  to  look  at  him  when  he  talked. 
Now  this  was  what  he  said, — '  Here  is  an  amulet  for  them 
that  sleep  not,  or  sleeping  have  evil  dreams.  Let  tin- 
ladies  leave  thee,  and  in  a  moment  thou  shalt  sleep.' 

"  'Instantly  begone  !'  cried  the  Princess  to  her  maidens. 
i  Fly  !  I  have  no  fears.  Let  a  slave  with  a  drawn  scimetar 
keep  the  door  and  leave  me  with  this  wise  and  astonish 
ing  man/ 

"  Then,  when  there  were  none  in  the  room  but  the  Lady 
and  himself,  the  Prince  opened  his  gold  box  and  lifted  out 
of  it  a  large  opal  which  shone  with  a  dim  gray  sleepy 
lustre  with  points  of  red  and  purple  light. 

"When  he  held  the  jewel  up  before  her  eyes  she  said, 
4  It  has  letters  on  it.  What  be  they  ?  What  do  they  mean  ?' 
2* 


1 8  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

k'  'The  words/  he  replied,  'are  the  names  of  the  nine 
most  stupid  books  that  ever  were  written,  and  within  is 
the  name  of  the  sleepiest  man  that  ever  lived,  and  also 
the  name  of  a  very  young  baby  who  slept  every  night  all 
night  long.' 

"  '  It  is  well,'  said  the  Princess.     '  Let  me  sleep.' 

"  '  Rise  !'  said  the  Prince,  and  she  stood  erect  while  he 
held  the  opal  before  her  eyes,  an'd  the  golden  flow  of  her 
hair  fell  from  head  to  neck  and  from  waist  to  floor  in 
curves  of  darkling  gold  like  the  early  sunlight  when  it  is 
yet  touched  with  the  fading  brown  of  twilight. 

"  As  she  gazed  fixedly  at  the  jewel  her  eyelids  closed, 
and  drowsy  languor  grew  upon  her  face,  till  at  last  she 
swayed  backwards  and  fell  upon  the  couch. 

"Then  the  Prince  laid  the  jewel  on  the  floor  and 
crushed  it  with  his  foot.  As  it  brake,  a  rosy  flame  flashed 
from  it,  and  a  heavy  odorous  smoke  curled  upwards 
and  filled  the  room  with  dense  vapour. 

"Then  the  Prince  took  a  long  lock  of  her  golden  hair, 
and  with  his  dagger  cut  it  quickly.  When  he  had  twisted 
it  around  his  sword  hilt  he  leaned  over  and  kissed  her 
cheek,  but  though  the  Lady  slept  the  blood  seemed  to 
leap  to  the  spot  he  had  touched,  and  her  cheek  grew 
scarlet,  as  he  turned  away  ashamed  and  fled  from  the 
palace. 

"Near  to  the  garden  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  spurred 
swiftly  away  through  the  night,  while  the  trees  moaned 


LADT  GOLDEN  HAIR.  19 

in  the  wind  as  he  passed,  and  the  birds  awoke  and  sang, 
'  Shame  !  shame  !'  till  he  stopped  his  ears  and  fled  faster 
and  faster. 

"  Thus  it  was  that  Prince  Clever  kissed  the  Lady  and 
had  a  golden  lock  to  show  which  was  like  her  own,  be 
cause  it  was  her  own.  The  next  day  he  met  Sturdy. 

"  '  Ha  !  ha  !'  said  Clever,  'you  own  a  Roc's  egg,  but  I 
have  kissed  the  Lady,  and  who  do  you  think  has  hair 
like  this?' 

"  '  Only  one,'  replied  Prince  Sturdy  sadly. 

"  'We  shall-  meet  to-morrow,'  said  Clever,  for  so  they 
had  agreed,  and  thus  saying  he  rode  away. 

"Prince  Sturdy  also  arose  and  entered  a  wood  near 
by,  for  he  was  sick  at  heart  and  desired  to  see  no  man's 
face. 

"In  a  little  while  he  was  aware  of  two  wild  roses  be 
side  a  rock  on  which  he  had  seated  himself.  As  he 
thought  of  the  Lady  he  wept,  and  just  one  tear  fell  upon 
a  rose. 

"Then  said    a    faint  clear  voice,  'The  dew  falls.' 

"  'I  hope  it  is  rain,'  said  another  voice  which  was  still 
more  sweet  and  pure. 

"  'Ah,'  sighed  the  Prince,  'happy  roses  !' 

"  'Why  do  you  weep?'  said  the  roses,  for  it  was  their 
voices  he  had  heard. 

" '  Because   I   may  not   steal  a  lady's   kiss,'   said   the 


20  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

Prince,  '  and  because  I  want  a  tress  of  golden  hair  the 
like  of  which  is  not  to  be  had  on  earth.' 

"'We  don't  know  much  about  kisses,'  said  the  rose. 
'  But  it  is  pleasant  to  touch  a  young  rose  bud  when  the 
winds  blow  us  against  one  another.  I  suppose  that  is  a 
kiss.' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  Sturdy  laughing,  as  he  pushed  the  two 
roses  together  till  their  red  lips  touched. 

"'Thanks,'  said  they.  Then  after  a-  silence  one  of 
them  said,  '  If  I  were  you  I  would  go  and  lie  on  the  top 
of  a  great  cliff,  and  as  the  yellow  sunlight  trickles  over 
the  stones  at  morning,  I  would  catch  a  bit  in  a  gold  box 
and  shut  the  lid  quickly  and  keep  it.  Where  is  a  Lady 
would  have  golden  locks  like  that,  so  yellow  and  so 
fine?' 

"  '  It  is  well,'  cried  the  Prince,  and  so  saying  he  went 
away,  sadly  thinking  of  the  kiss  he  might  not  have. 

"Next  day  the  Court  and  the  King  and  the  Princess 
were  in  the  garden  awaiting  the  two  Princes. 

"  First  came  Prince  Clever  who  had  gotten  his  good 
looks  again,  and  who  came  gaily  with  a  hundred  knights 
and  with  slaves  who  bore  an  ivory  box  which  held  the 
Princess'  hair. 

"Next  came  Prince  Sturdy  on  a  great  black  steed,  but 
all  alone  and  with  only  a  little  gold  box  in  his  hand. 

"  When  both  had  bent  before  the  lady  she  smiled  and 
said,  '  You  are  empty  handed.' 


LADT  GOLDEN  HAIR.  21 

"•'No,'  said  Clever,  and  bade  the  slaves  approach. 
Then  from  the  ivory  box  he  took  a  glorious  tress  of  the 
Lady's  hair. 

"  '  Is  it  like  ?'  said  he.  '  Ah  !'  she  cried,  as  she  matched 
it  with  her  own  long  hair.  '  It  is  the  same  !  it  was  mine  ! 
How  came  you  by  this  ?' 

"  'Pardon  me,  Lady,'  he  said.  'It  was  I  who  in  your 
sleep  yesterday  stole  this  tress  of  hair.  Where  else  is  any 
like  it?' 

"'Ah!'  she  cried,  growing  pale,  'You  were  the  Sor 
cerer  with  the  foul  visage.  You  must  have  worn  your 
heart  upon  your  face  for  once  Fair  Sir.  But  ah  me  !' 
she  continued,  '  the  kiss  !  the  kiss  !  Did  you  dare  to  kiss 
me,  sir  Prince  ?' 

"  '  I  dared,'  he  said.     '  How  else  could  I  win  you  ?' 

"  'Enough,'  she  said,  and  turned,  pale  and  despairing, 
to  Prince  Sturdy. 

"  'Lady,'  said  he,  '  at  morning  I  climbed  the  hill  and 
caught  in  this  box  a  tress  of  golden  sunlight.  If  it  be  not 
as  like  to  thy  hair  as  sun  to  sun  I  am  a  false  knight.' 
Then  he  opened  the  box  beside  the  Lady's  wealth  of 
hair. 

"  '  Bosh  !'  cried  Prince  Clever.  '  There  is  nothing  there,' 
for  the  box  of  a  truth  was  empty. 

"  'True,'  said  Sturdy,  'It  was  bright  this  morning,  but 
it  is  darkness  now  beside  the  sunshine  of  my  Lady's 
locks.' 


22  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

'"Well  said!'  cried  the  King,  while  the  Princess 
blushed  like  a  whole  summer  of  rosy  peaches. 

"  '  By  my  beard  !'  cried  Clever,  '  He  has  the  egg,  and  it 
seems  I  am  outwitted  about  the  lock  of  hair.  I  pray  you 
to  tell  me  which  of  us  has  the  kiss.' 

"  'A  gift  is  better  than  a  theft,'  said  she,  and  whisper 
ing  this,  bent  down  and  kissed  the  brow  of  brave  Prince 
Sturdy  who  trembled  like  a  lily  of  earth  in  the  wind  of 
Paradise. 

"  But  as  for  Prince  Clever,  he  made  a  wry  face  and  said, 
4  It  is  very  warm  in  this  place,'  and  so  went  away  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets  and  was  no  more  seen  among  men." 

When  Fuz-buz  had  ended,  all  the  little  family  of  spiders 
began  to  rejoice  together,  because  of  the  nice  story  they 
had  heard  and  also  because  of  the  many  more  which 
were  yet  to  be  told. 

The  next  afternoon  as  soon  as  ever  Mrs.  Grabem  began 
to  knit,  the  spiders  cried  aloud  for  a  story. 

"  But  I  am  tired,"  said  Fuz-buz. 

"No  matter !"  cried  the  spiders,  "we  are  not." 

"  Come,  no  nonsense !"  roared  Mrs.  Grabem. 

"Well,"  cried  poor  Fuz-buz.     "Let  me  think  a  little." 

"  I  should  not  suppose  it  took  much  thinking  to  make 
up  stories,"  replied  Mrs.  Grabem. 

By  this  time  Fuz-buz  was  ready  and  having  eaten  a  little 
cherry  gum  to  clear  his  throat,  he  began  as  follows : 

"This  is  a  fairy  tale  about 


COLD   COUNTRY.  23 

COLD  COUNTRY. 

ABOUT  TROWEL  Ku  THE  BEAVER  WHO  BUILDS  DAMS. 
ABOUT  KANECRI  THE  LOON  WHO  SINGS  ON  THE 
LAKES.  ABOUT  HOOTA  THE  OWL  WHO  is  NOT  so 

WISE  AS  HE  LOOKS.  ABOUT  WEESKA  THE  FOX  WHO 
IS  JUST  AS  SHARP  AS  HIS  OWN  NOSE,  AND  THAT  IS 
SAYING  A  GREAT  DEAL. 

"Ever  so  many  days  ago,"  said  Fuz-buz,  "and  ever  so 
far  away  up  among  the  great  lakes  it  was  always  sum 
mer.  There  the  trees  were  always  green  and  the  flowers 
never  ceased  to  bloom  nor  the  birds  to  sing. 

61  The  beaver  built  dams  and  no  winter  came  to  freeze 
them.  The  owl  hooted  solemnly  and  the  squirrels  raced 
and  played  and  ate  nuts  all  the  year,  and  the  foxes  joked 
with  the  big  bears,  and  the  loons  sang  to  the  stars  all  the 
nights  long,  and  the  stars  winked  at  the  lakes,  and  no 
one  ate  any  one  else,  for  every  one  was  merry  and  happy, 
because  it  was  summer  all  the  year. 

"But  at  last  everything  and  everybody  grew  tired  of 
being  so  happy. 

"  'Ah  me !'  said  the  bear,  'I  get  so  fat  it  would  be  as 
easy  to  roll  as  to  walk.' 

"'Just  so,'  sighed  the  trees,  'what  a  bore  to  have  to 
make  leaves  all  the  time.' 

"Only  the  owl  said,  'I'm  comfortable,'  and  gave  his 
feathers  a  lazy  shake  and  went  to  sleep  again. 


24  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

"After  a  while  all  the  animals  and  trees  and  fish  had  a 
great  talk  and  made  up  their  minds  that  it  was  unpleasant 
to  have  hot  weather  always. 

"  So  the  fox  proposed  that  they  should  go  in  search  of 
cool  weather,  and  bring  back  a  little  by  way  of  a  change. 

"At  last  they  agreed  to  send  Trowel  Ku  the  Beaver, 
and  Kanecri  the  Loon,  and  Hoota  the  Owl,  and  Weeska 
the  Fox. 

"  All  were  ready  except  Hoota  the  Owl,  who  said,  '  I'm 
comfortable.  What's  the  use  ?'  and  fell  asleep  again,  but 
Weeska  bit  his  toes  and  Kanecri  the  Loon  sang  in  his 
ears  and  at  last  they  woke  him  up.  'For,'  said  the 
Beaver,  '  he  looks  so  wise  we  cannot  do  without  him.' 

"  Therefore  it  was  resolved  that  Trowel  Ku  the  Beaver 
should  pull  out  one  of  his  feathers  every  five  minutes  to 
keep  him  wide  awake,  and  having  thus  planned  the 
matter  each  one  filled  a  birch  bark  bag  with  food,  and  the 
whole  party  set  off  at  daybreak. 

"After  a  long  journey  they  came  to  the  hut  of  a  magi 
cian  called  a  Manitou,  on  a  high  hill.  Here  the  Loon 
called  aloud,  but  no  one  came  until  the  Owl  mounted  on 
the  Fox's  back  and  knocked  at  the  door,  when  a  little 
hunch-backed  woman  opened  it  and  said,  'You  can't 
come  in  without  money.' 

"  '  Ha  !  ha  !'  said  the  Fox  and  ran  away  into  the  wood, 
and  presently  came  back  with  a  handful  of  green  leaves 
which  he  gave  to  the  old  woman. 


COLD   COUNTRY.  25 

"  ' That  will  do,'  said  she,  for  she  was  blind.  'Money 
must  be  plenty  where  you  live.  Come  in.'  By  and  by  the 
Manitou  came  home. 

" '  What  now?'  said  he. 

"  'Sir,'  answered  Trowel  Ku,  the  Beaver,  'I  am  tired 
of  summer  and  of  building  dams.  Tell  us  where  we  can 
buy  a  little  cold  to  take  home  for  a  change.'  '  And  I,' 
said  the  Fox,  '  I  find  it  always  too  hot.'  '  For  my  part,' 
cried  the  Loon,  Kanecri,  '  You  have  given  us  only  sum 
mer.  Either  give  me  fewer  feathers  or  else  a  little  cold. 
As  for  the  trees  they  are  all  growling  about  having  no 
rest  at  making  leaves.' 

"'Then,'  said  Manitou  to  the  Owl,  'What  do  you 
want?'  'I'm  comfortable,'  said  Hoota  the  Owl,  and 
straightway  went  to  sleep. 

"'Well,'  said  Manitou,  'I  will  send  you  to  the  cold 
country  and  you  can  all  of  you  take  home  a  bag  of  cold 
to  your  friends.'  Then  he  began  to  laugh,  and  taking  a 
deer-skin  bade  them  all  jump  inside. 

"  When  they  were  all  in  he  sewed  them  up  and  put 
ting  the  skin  outside  of  the  hut  bade  it  go. 

"At  once  it  became  alive  and  bounded  off  over  the 
hills  and  through  the  streams  until  it  came  to  a  great 
frozen  lake. 

"Here  the  Beaver  heard  a  noise,  and  presently  an 
arrow  went  through  the  deer  which  fell  on  the  ice.  The 


26  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

next  moment  a  knife  ripped  the  deer  open,  and  the  Owl 
and  the  Beaver  and  Fox  and  Loon  jumped  out. 

"  Then  they  saw  two  tall  men  made  of  icicles  who  gave 
a  cry  when  they  saw  them,  dropped  their  knives,  and 
skated  away  over  the  lake. 

"'Dear  me!'  said  Trowel  Ku,  'This  must  be  cold 
land,  let  us  fill  our  bags,'  cried  Weeska  the  Fox,  '  and  be 
off.'  '  Here  is  too  much  cold  for  me,  I'm  not  comfortable,' 
said  Hoota  the  owl.  '  Boo  hoo  how  it  bites  my  toes  !' 

"Then  they  all  filled  their  birch  bags  with  cold,  of 
which  there  was  plenty  for  every  one  lying  about  loose, 
and  set  off  homewards. 

"But  after  a  little  while  they  all  became  so  cold  that 
their  jaws  chattered.  By  and  by  they  saw  the  Manitou. 

'"What  now?'  said  he. 

"  ' Too  much  cold,'  said  the  Beaver.  'I  think  one  bag 
would  answer,'  added  the  Fox,  '  and  we  could  carry  it  by 
turns.'  '  I'm  not  comfortable,'  groaned  Hoota  the  Owl, 
'  my  toes  are  frozen.'  '  Suppose,'  said  the  Loon,  '  you 
were  to  help  us  to  carry  the  cold  home.' 

"'Ho!'  answered  Manitou,  for  he  was  very  angry. 
'  Begone  !  you  wanted  summer  and  I  gave  it  to  you,  and 
you  had  leave  to  take  as  much  cold  as  you  wanted,  and 
were  greedy  and  took  too  much.  I  will  warm  you  a 
little  and  send  your  cold  home  too.' 

"Thus  saying  he  tore  the  sunset  out  of  the  west  and 
threw  it  a  thousand  miles  into  their  country,  and  lo  !  it  fell 


COLD    COUNTRT.  27 

on  the  trees,  and  some  it  stained  yellow  and  some  red  and 
some  brown,  which  so  amazed  them  that  they  let  their 
leaves  fall  in  affright  and  horror. 

"Next  the  Manitou  took  up  the  bags  of  cold  and  threw 
them  after  the  sunset,  and  as  they  flew  they  broke,  and 
the  white  cold  fell  in  little  fleecy  blankets  on  the  naked 
trees  and  on  the  land. 

"When  the  animals  reached  home  there  was  no  sum 
mer.  So  the  Fox  Weeska  ran  into'his  den  in  the  rocks, 
and  the  Beaver  Trowel  Ku  cried,  '  Woe  is  me  !  the  water 
has  become  white  stone,'  and  the  Loon  Kanecri  sang  a 
song  to  the  stars  and  flew  up  into  the  skies  and  sailed 
away  and  away.  But  Hoota  the  Owl  said,  '  I'm  com 
fortable,'  and  fell  fast  asleep  in  a  hollow  stump." 

The  next  night  Mrs.  Grabem  herself  came  along  with 
her  little  ones  to  hear  Fuz-buz  relate  a  tale. 

"Be  sure  it  is  a  nice  story,"  said  one  of  the  spiders. 

"For  my  part,"  cried  Mrs.  Grabem,  "I  take  no  interest 
in  stories,  but  it  pleases  me  to  see  the  youngsters  amused. 
You  may  go  on  while  I  knit,  and  as  I  have  ten  threads  to 
mend  let  the  story  be  a  long  one." 

"Please  ma'am,"  answered  Fuz-buz,  "I  will  now  tell 
you  a  story  which  I  flatter  myself  is  the  very  best  one  I 
ever  heard.  It  was  brought  by  a  cousin  of  mine  from 
Bagdad  where  he  got  it  from  a  very  aristocratic  fly  who 
lived  many  years  in  the  household  of  Sinbad  the  Sailor." 


28  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

THE  FOUNTAIN  OF  YOUTH. 

"Once  upon  a  time  there  lived  in  Persia  a  great  king. 
He  had  one  nephew  who  was  to  be  the  ruler  after  him, 
and  to  have  all,  his  kingdom. 

"  When  this  lad  was  about  six  years  old  a  daughter 
was  born  to  the  King.  No  sooner  was  her  birth  known 
than  the  magicians  foretold  that  she  would  be  beautiful, 
and  would  have  blue  eyes  like  lakes,  which  last  was  not 
very  hard  to  foretell  because  they  were  already  blue,  but 
the  magi  also  declared  that  on  the  day  of  her  marriage 
the  King  would  die. 

"  'Oh  ho !'  said  the  King,  who  was  called  Omar,  'If 
this  be  so  she  shall  never  marry,  and  I  shall  live  long  and 
pleasantly,  and  after  me  she  shall  be  queen.  As  for  my 
nephew,  I  fear  that  he  may  wish  to  be  king  when  he 
grows  to  manhood.  Therefore  let  him  be  thrown  into 
the  sea.'  Then  an  old  Magician  arose  and  spoke  thus. 

"  '  Be  careful,  oh  King,  not  to  do  this  wicked  act,  or  if 
you  greatly  dread  the  Prince  Ali  give  him  to  me,  and  I 
will  carry  him  far  away  to  an  island  on  the  coast,  where 
he  may  be  taught  as  a  Prince  should  be,  and  where  he  may 
live  all  his  days  and  never  know  what  he  might  have 
been.' 

"Then  said  a  second  counsellor,  'For  my  part  I 
advise  that  the  Princess  be  shut  up  in  a  palace  around 
whose  gardens  a  wall  shall  be  built,  that  she  may  grow 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   TOUTH.  29 

up  and  see  none  but  women,  for  so  only  can  you  make 
sure  that  she  will  not  fall  in  love  and  marry.' 

"  '  It  were  well,'  said  the  King.  '  Let  the  Magician 
take  the  Prince  as  he  has  said.'  Accordingly  the  next 
day  Prince  AH  was  carried  to  an  island  many  miles  from 
the  main  land  and  lodged  in  a  fair  palace.  Here  he  was 
cared  for  by  trusty  persons  who  taught  him  all  manner 
of  wisdom,  as  well  as  to  ride  and  hunt  and  swim,  so  that 
he  grew  up  brave  and  handsome  and  full  of  goodness  and 
knowledge. 

"Meanwhile  the  Princess  lived  alone  with  her  women 
in  a  gleaming  marble  castle  which  looked  across  the  sea, 
and  was  girt  about  by  a  high  wall  on  every  side  but  that 
bounded  by  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 

"The  busy  years  went  on  and  by  and  by  the  little  girl 
grew  to  be  a  stately  woman,  and  the  Prince  a  tall  and 
vigourous  man,  while  the  King  Omar  became  gray  and 
old,  and  was  every  day  more  greedy  to  live.  Each  morn 
ing  he  sent  a  slave  to  see  how  the  Princess  fared,  and 
every  month  he  was  told  all  about  Prince  Ali,  and  so 
made  sure  of  his  constant  safe  keeping. 

"One  fine  morning  just  after  a  storm  a  strange  thing 
happened  to  the  Prince.  He  was  walking  up  and  down 
the  beach  and  looking  at  the  waves  which  were  rushing 
up  the  shore  and  sweeping  down  again  with  a  fierce 
roar,  when  he  heard  a  cry  of  distress  among  the  rocks 
near  by.  In  a  moment  he  climbed  towards  the  spot  and 


30  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

saw  to  his  great  wonder  as  he  came  near  long  tresses  of 
something  like  thin  seaweed  floating  in  the  wind  from  a 
rock  above  him.  He  seized  it  and  was  more  amazed  to  find 
that  it  was  beautiful  hair  like  his  own,  but  of  a  bright 
green  colour.  As  he  pulled  it  he  heard  again  a  cry  of 
pain  which  hastened  his  steps. 

"  This  hair  was  wonderful,  for  it  not  only  fell  far  down 
the  cliff  but  lay  on  top  of  the  rocks  and  across  bushes, 
and  was  strung  here  and  there  with  coral  and  great 
pearls. 

"When  the  nimble  Prince  had  traced  it  some  thirty 
feet  it  led  him  to  a  deep  hollow  between  two  rocks.  Into 
this  he  descended.  As  he  reached  the  bottom  what 
should  he  see  but  a  little  old  woman,  with  fins  for  hands 
and  a  long  scaly  tail  like  that  of  a  fish.  She  was  such  a 
comical  little  old  lady  that  the  Prince  sat  down  and 
laughed  for  five  minutes.  He  ceased  his  mirth,  however, 
when  the  old  creature  waved  her  fins  in  a  helpless  way 
and  groaned  aloud. 

"  'What  can  I  do  for  you  Mrs.  Woman-fish?'  said  he, 
'  and  how  came  you  here  ?' 

"  'My  dear,'  said  she,  '  I  am,  as  you  see,  a  mermaid.  I 
happened  to  come  on  shore  last  night  just  to  do  a  little 
knitting  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  when  up  came  a  big 
storm,  and  the  waves  gave  me  a  great  toss  over  these 
rocks  and  into  this  hole.  But  the  worst  of  it  is  I  have 
lost  my  spectacles,  and  my  poor  back  is  nearly  broken, 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   TOUTH.  31 

and  one  fin's  out  of  joint,  and  I've  lost  a  knitting-needle 
and  my  back  comb.  Now  if  you  would  kindly  carry  me 
to  the  edge  of  the  rocks  and  throw  me  in,  I  think  I  could 
reach  home,  but,  as  you  may  notice,  I  don't  get  along 
very  well  upon  land.' 

"The  Prince  was  too  good-natured  to  refuse,  so  he 
lifted  her  carefully,  and  drawing  her  long  hair  after  him 
climbed  with  his  queer  load  to  the  top  of  trie  cliff.  Here 
he  gave  her  a  mighty  cast,  and  away  she  went  fifty  feet 
down  into  the  sea  with  her  green  hair  sailing  after  her. 
The  moment  she  felt  the  water  she  rolled  over  and 
kissing  her  fin  to  Prince  Ali  sculled  away  as  cleverly  as 
could  be. 

"The  Prince  said  nothing  about  this  adventure,  but 
felt  sorry  that  he  had  not  asked  her  some  questions,  for 
you  must  know  that  whenever  he  asked  questions  of  the 
people  who  waited  on  him,  and  taught  him,  they  were 
very  apt  to  say,  '  Oh  don't  bother  me !  I'm  busy,'  so  that 
there  were  many  things  which  he  desired  to  learn  and 
could  not. 

"From  this  day  forward  he  spent  all  of  his  time  upon 
the  shore  and  among  the  rocks.  At  last  one  evening  he 
saw  a  large  white  crested  wave  rolling  in,  and  on  a  sud 
den  out  of  it  paddled  the  mermaid.  She  sculled  up  the 
sand  and  rolling  over  on  her  back  said  to  the  Prince,  '  My 
dear  I  can  never  thank  you  enough.  If  the  doctors  had 


32  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

been  quicker  about  getting  my  flapper  well  I  should  have 
been  here  long  ago.' 

"  'You  are  most  welcome,'  returned  AH,  '  and  the  more 
so  because  perhaps  you  can  tell  me  who  I  am.' 

"'Sir!'  said  she,  'You  are  a  King's  son.  Your 
parents  are  dead,  and  your  uncle  has  put  you  here  for 
fear  that  you  may  wish  to  take  the  ^kingdom  away  from 
his  daughter  the  Princess  Jessalie  who  is  the  most  beau 
tiful  woman  in  the  world.  She  also  is  a  prisoner  within 
the  gardens  of  her  Palace  because  it  has  been  foretold 
that  whenever  she  marries,  her  Father  the  King  will  die.' 

"  'Would  that  I  could  see  her!'  said  the  Prince. 

"  '  Sir !'  replied  the  mermaid,  '  to-morrow  I  will  bring 
you  her  picture,  and  meanwhile  here  are  some  trifles 
which  my  children  have  sent  you  as  tokens  of  their 
gratitude.' 

"  Thus  saying  she  shook  her  head  and  a  double  handful 
of  pearls  fell  from  her  hair  and  dropped  at  the  feet  of  the 
Prince,  after  which  the  mermaid  tumbled  into  the  water 
and  swam  deftly  away. 

"The  next  morning  early  All  went  to  the  beach  and 
found  the  mermaid  waiting  with  a  large  piece  of  crystal 
in  her  flappers. 

"'Prince,'  she  said,  'Yesterday  the  Princess  Jessalie 
chanced  to  look  into  a  small  pool  of  water  on  the  shore 
where  she  walks.  As  quick  as  could  be  I  enchanted  the 
pool  and  turned  it  into  a  crystal  mirror,  so  that  the  face 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   YOUTH.  33 

of  the  Princess  is  fixed  upon  it  forever.  Look,  I  have 
brought  it  away  with  me.' 

"  At  once  the  Prince  regarded  the  mirror,  and  this  was 
what  he  saw  in  it.  Calm  lazy  eyes  of  blue,  and  below  them 
cheeks  dimpled  and  rosy,  and  twin  lips  which  made  you 
jealous  of  each,  because  ever  they  kissed  one  the  other, 
and  brown  hair  which  must  have  fallen  down  about  this 
face  as  it  looked  into  the  pool  of  water,  and  blue  around 
it  all,  the  heavens  which  spread  above  her  as  she  had 
bent  to  gaze  at  her  own  fairness. 

"'Ah!'  said  Ali,  'This  is  my  fate  !  Take  me  to  this 
woman  swiftly  that  I  may  see  her  and  die  contented.' 

"  'Not  so,'  said  the  mermaid,  'be  guided  by  me  and  in 
time  you  shall  marry  her.  Give  me  a  message  and  I  will 
carry  it  to  the  Princess,  but  as  yet  she  must  not  know 
your  name,  or  it  might  be  that  the  King  hearing  it  would 
put  you  to  death.  Speak  your  message  to  this  shell  and 
I  will  answer  for  the  rest.' 

"Thus  saying  she  pointed  to  a  white  shell  which  lay 
on  the  beach.  The  Prince  took  it  up,  and  laughing, 
whispered  a  few  words  in  its  curled  lip,  and  then  as  the 
mermaid  bade  him  threw  it  far  out  into  the  sea. 

"'Now,'  said  the  mermaid,  'If  you  tell  a  lady  once 
that  you  love  her  she  laughs.  If  you  tell  her  twice  she  is 
angry,  but  when  you  have  ten  times  said  '  I  love,'  she 
will  either  hate  or  love  you,  or  perhaps  may  hate  and 
love  by  turns,  each  for  five  minutes  as  sometimes  doth 


34  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

chance.  Now,  therefore,  many  times  you  must  say  to 
her  I  love  you.' 

"But  how  shall  I  do  this?'  asked  Prince  Ali. 

"  '  Sir,'  she  said,  '  look  upwards  and  clap  your  hands 
thrice.' 

"Without  further  words  the  young  man  did  as  he  was 
told,  when  instantly  a  great  white  swan  descended  from 
a  vast  height  and  alighted  on  the  water's  edge  beside 
them.  The  mermaid  at  once  began  to  dig  in  the  sand, 
and  presently  found  a  large  oyster  shell  which  she  desired 
Ali  to  open.  As  he  did  so  a  necklace  of  pearls  fell  out, 
the  like  of  which  no  jeweller  ever  saw  before  or  since. 

"'Now!'  said  the  mermaid,  'hang  this  on  the  swan's 
neck  for  a  present  to  the  Princess,  and  with  thy  finger 
write  on  the  bird's  breast  a  message.' 

"The  Prince  was  lost  in  wonder,  but  without  hesita 
tion  he  traced  a  few  rapid  letters  on  the  white  breast  of 
the  swan.  As  he  wrote,  the  feathers  where  he  touched 
them  grew  scarlet,  so  that  you  might  read  in  red  letters 
'  I  love  thee,'  marked  on  the  snowy  whiteness  of  the 
swan's  bosom. 

"  Scarcely  had  he  made  an  end  of  this  short  letter  of 
love  when  the  swan  rose  in  swift  flight  until  she  was  no 
longer  to  be  seen  by  the  amazed  Prince,  who  turned  to 
look  at  the  mermaid,  though  only  to  find  that  she  too  had 
vanished.  Then  in  still  greater  wonder  Ali  walked 
homeward  along  the  water's  edge. 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   YOUTH.  35 

"  Thus  many  days  went  by  and  brought  no  change, 
for  ever  the  west  winds  blew,  and  ever  the  waves  climbed 
the  shore  and  laid  soft  cheeks  on  the  sands  and  whis 
pered,  and  went  backward  moaning  again. 

"This  sadness  pleased  the  Prince  who  lay  on  the  rocks 
all  day  and  heard  the  sobbing  waters,  and  looked  wearily 
over  the  wide  green  ocean  fields  where  the  bubble-crested 
foam  came  and  went  from  sight  like  the  white  clover 
blossoms  which  swayed  amid  their  fields  of  green,  when 
the  wind  leaped  across  the  rocks  and  took  its  pleasure 
inland. 

"One  of  these  days  the  Princess  walked  on  the  shore 
with  her  women,  when  the  youngest  of  them  said,  '  What 
a  lovely  shell !'  '  Let  me  hear  what  it  says,'  cried  the 
Princess ;  but  no  sooner  had  she  put  it  to  her  ear  than  the 
shell  murmured  softly,  c  I  LOVE  YOU.' 

"  'Ah  !'  said  the  Princess  Jessalie  to  the  oldest  of  her 
ladies,  '  This  shell  sings  to  me  words  new  and  strange. 
Tell  me  I  pray  you  what  is  LOVE  ?' 

"  She  had  scarcely  finished  when  all  the  old  ladies  held 
up  their  hands  in  horror,  for  this  and  all  other  such  words 
were  forbidden  within  the  Palace  bounds.  The  more 
they  made  faces  and  signs  at  her  the  more  the  Princess 
wished  to  know.  So  she  kept  saying  continually,  '  What 
is  love?  I  will  know  what  is  love.' 

"  But  no  one  answered,  and  some  of  the  old  ladies 
cried,  and  some  ran  away,  for  they  all  feared  that  King 


36  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

Omar  would  strangle  them  because,  the  Princess  had 
heard  the  forbidden  word,  and  because  no  one  of  them 
knew  but  that  presently  she  would  say,  4  what  is  a  man  ?' 
or  some  other  such  dreadful  words. 

"  When  at  length  the  Princess  found  herself  alone  with 
her  governess,  she  said  again,  'What  is  love?' 

"  'My  dear  child,'  replied  the  old  lady,  '  it  is  a  kind  of 
medicine  !' 

"  'Ah  !'  cried  the  Princess,  '  Then  I  see  why  the  ladies 
made  faces  when  I  spoke  of  it.  I  suppose  they  had 
all  taken  a  dose.  But  it  sounds  very  pleasant,'  she 
added,  and  all  day  long  she  went  about  with  the  shell  at 
her  ear. 

"The  next  morning  the  shell  was  gone,  for  the  ladies 
had  taken  it  away  so  that  they  might  prevent  further  mis 
chief  by  hiding  this  wonderful  shell.  But  before  they 
concealed  it  they  listened  to  hear  it  say  '  I  love  you.'  No 
one  listened  twicer  and  they  all  said  the  shell  was  an  ill- 
bred  shell  and  had  no  manners,  though  what  it  said  to 
them  I  know  not,  perhaps  something  true  but  not  plea 
sant. 

"The  next  day  while  walking  in  the  garden  the  Prin 
cess  asked  eagerly  about  her  singing  shell.  While  every 
body  pretended  to  look  for  it  a  whirring  noise  was  heard 
ariU  a  fluttering  of  white  wings  was  seen  as  the  swan  lit 
at  the  feet  of  the  lady  and  shook  the  pearl  necklace  into 
her  lap. 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   YOUTH.  37 

"  '  Oh  marvellous  !'  cried  the  Princess,  '  come  quickly 
look  at  this  !  see  what  pearls  !  and  Mahomet  preserve  us  ! 
Bismillah  !  Here  is  the  name  of  that  medicine  again, 
written  in  scarlet  on  the  breast  of  this  beautiful  swan,  4I 

LOVE  THEE.' 

"No  sooner  had  the  old  ladies  seen  these  fatal  words 
than  they  rushed  at  the  bird  and  beat  it  so  cruelly  that  it 
had  hard  work  to  get  away  even  with  the  help  of  the 
Princess  herself. 

"  This  time  she  was  so  urgent  to  be  told  more,  and  so 
eager  in  her  questions,  that  the  matter  came  to  the  quick 
ears  of  the  King  Omar  her  father.  At  once  the  guards 
around  her  Palace  gardens  were  doubled.  Twelve  old 
ladies  were  set  to  work  to  gather  up  all  the  shells  along 
shore,  while  twelve  more  were  ordered  to  keep  strict 
watch  lest  any  other  messages  of  love  should  come  to  the 
fair  Jessalie. 

"Meantime  none  knew  whence  came  these  strange 
words,  and  the  King  grew  more  and  more  angry  and 
alarmed  whenever  he  thought  about  it. 

"All  his  precautions  were  in  vain.  One  fine  morning 
every  rose-leaf  in  the  gardens  had  written  upon  it  in 
golden  Arabic  letters,  '  I  LOVE  YOU.' 

"This  drove  the  King  wild,  and  he  commanded  all 
the  rose-bushes  in  the  kingdom  to  be  cut  down,  which 
was  instantly  done. 

"The  next  morrow  at  day-break   a  great  noise  was 
4.  B* 


38  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

heard,  and  when  the  Princess  arose  and  peeped  from  her 
window  every  bird  in  the  garden  was  singing,  '  I  LOVE 

YOU,  I  LOVE  YOU,  I  LOVE  YOU.' 

"This  time  the  King  ordered  the  Princess  to  be  shut 
up  in  the  Palace.  Then  the  birds  were  driven  away  and 
a  great  silken  net  hung  over  the  garden  so  that  the  voice 
of  the  birds  might  no  more  be  heard  singing  this  sweet 
treason  among  the  flowers. 

"  Very  soon,  however,  the  Princess  became  so  weary  of 
her  Palace  that  she  fell  ill,  and  no  one  dared  to  tell  the 
King  that  all  night  long  in  dreams  she  whispered, '  I  LOVE 

YOU,  I  LOVE  YOU.' 

"Far  and  near  the  King  sought  counsel  of  all  manner 
of  wise  men  and  doctors,  but  no  one  would  venture  to 
order  medicine  for  the  Princess  without  seeing  her,  and 
as  to  a  man  doing  that,  it  was  out  of  the  question. 

"  About  this  time  the  mermaid,  who  I  need  not  say  was 
the  merrymaker  of  all  this  mischief,  met  the  Prince  on 
the  beach  one  evening  and  thus  addressed  him. 

"  '  The  Princess  whom  you  love  is  ill,  because  she  has 
not  found  out  who  it  is  that  is  ever  saying  through  the 
shells  and  the  birds  and  the  flowers,  "  I  love  you."  Take 
therefore  this  mirror,  write  on  it  a  letter  with  your  finger 
tip,  and  I  will  see  that  it  reaches  the  Princess.' 

"The  Prince  gladly  followed  these  directions,  for 
though  when  he  had  traced  words  on  the  glass  he  could 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   YOUTH.  39 

see  nothing  of  them,  he  felt  sure  of  the  mermaid's  power 
to  help  him. 

"When  he  had  ended  she  took  the  mirror,  and  carry 
ing  it  all  the  way  above  the  waves  hastened  to  the  main 
land.  When  she  came  to  the  shore  she  put  on  a  long 
petticoat  to  hide  her  scaly  fish  tail,  and  drawing  her  fins 
through  the  sleeves  of  a  gown,  mounted  up  on  a  pair  of 
crutches  and  hobbled  with  great  labour  to  the  Palace  of 
King  Omar.  Here  she  told  the  guard  to  let  the  King 
know  that  a  lame  doctoress  who  had  come  from  a  far 
country  was  waiting  to  cure  the  Princess. 

"  So  soon  as  ever  the  King  heard  this  he  ordered  her 
to  be  admitted.  When  he  set  eyes  upon  her  odd  figure 
he  cried  out, 

"  '  Quick!  old  woman  speak!  and  that  shortly  !  If  you 
can  cure  my  daughter  say  so.' 

"  '  Oh  King!'  she  answered,  '  Let  the  lady  look  into  this 
mirror,  but  see  that  no  one  touches  it  on  the  way.  Let 
the  Princess  breathe  upon  it  as  she  looks,  and  if  it  does 
not  cure  her  throw  me  into  the  sea  without  mercy.' 

*''Well  said!'  cried  the  King.  'It  shall  be  as  you 
desire.  Let  the  mirror  be  carried  to  the  Princess.' 

"Accordingly  that  evening  the  crystal  was  taken  to  the 
Palace  with  every  care  and  given  to  Jessalie. 

"  'You  have  but  to  breathe  on  it,'  said  her  Governess, 
4  and  you  will  be  well.' 

"  '  Give  it  to  me,'  she  said,  and  instantly  blew  a  breath 


40  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

upon  its  polished  surface.  As  she  did  so,  to  her  great 
amazement  she  read  these  words  which  seemed  to  come 
into  view  on  the  glass  as  her  breathing  moistened  it,  '  I 

LOVE  YOU.  I,  THE  PRINCE  ALI  YOUR  COUSIN,  I  LOVE 
YOU.' 

"As  her  breath  faded  from  the  glass  the  words  fled 
from  sight,  but  the  Princess  fell  back  murmuring,  'My 
cousin  Ali,  he  loves  me.' 

"  Then  there  was  confusion.  The  ladies  tore  their 
hair  and  screamed  aloud,  and  the  slaves  beat  their  breasts, 
while  the  Princess  fainted  away.  In  a  moment  the  news 
came  to  the  King  that  his  daughter  had  no  sooner  seen 
the  mirror  than  she  had  called  aloud  the  name  of  her 
cousin  and  fainted. 

"  'Allah  !'  muttered  the  King,  'Well  said  the  poet,  "A 
daughter  is  an  aching  tooth,  and  he  who  doth  not  beat 
his  child  shall  one  day  strike  his  knees  in  vain."  Let  this 
old  hag  of  a  doctor  be  cast  into  the  sea,'  he  added,  '  and  let 
the  captain  of  the  guard  take  ship  speedily  and  slay  this 
nephew  of  mine  whom  I  did  ill  to  spare  so  long.' 

"Accordingly  the  mermaid  was  taken  to  the  rocks  and 
thrown  a  hundred  feet  down  into  the  waves,  where  she 
laughed  a  little,  and  kicking  oft*  her  petticoats  swam  away 
merrily  to  see  the  Prince,  for  whose  safety  she  had  great 
fears. 

"Just  as  she  reached  the   island  she  saw  the  Prince 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   TOUTH.  41 

standing  on  a  rock  and  bravely  defending  himself  against 
the  guard  of  the  King. 

"As  quick  as  could  be  the  mermaid  called  to  him  to 
leap  off  of  the  rocks  into  the  sea,  for  although  he  had 
killed  at  least  a  dozen  of  his  foes  he  was  faint  and  sorely 
pressed.  When  he  heard  her  call  he  smote  the  captain 
of  the  guard  a  fierce  blow,  and  bounding  up  the  rocks 
hesitated  an  instant,  and  then  leaped  boldly  into  the  foam 
ing  waters  at  their  feet. 

"For  a. moment  he  felt  his  strength  fail,  then  he  saw  a 
thousand  colours  before  his  eyes,  then  a  gray  mist  came 
over  them,  and  after  that  darkness,  until  he  awakened  as 
from  a  dream  of  death. 

"When  he  became  conscious, he  was  under  the  water 
seated  at  the  foot  of  a  vast  tree  of  coral.  About  him  was 
a  forest  of  like  trees,  hung  with  huge  pearls  and  covered 
with  sea-weed  of  many  tints,  among  which  great  fish 
and  nameless  ocean  beasts  floated  lazily  to  and  fro. 

"'Come,'  said  the  mermaid,  'You  are  now  a  son  of 
the  sea.  Let  us  go.' 

"Upon  this  he  arose  and  in  a  great  maze  of  wonder 
walked  along,  while  the  mermaid  swam  easily  by  his 
side.  Sometimes  they  passed  huge  heaps  of  amber,  and 
sometimes  turned  aside  from  the  wrecks  of  mighty  ships, 
or  else  trode  through  caverns  whose  sand  was  gold  dust 
and  gleaming  jewels,  till  at  length  they  came  to  a  vast 
wrall  of  rock. 

4* 


42  FUZ-BUZ,    THE   FLT. 

"  Here  the  mermaid  knocked  and  a  door  opened  and 
let  them  into  a  mighty  hall  builded  throughout  of  the 
purest  jasper. 

"  But  what  the  Prince  saw  here  no  one  will  ever  know, 
for  here  the  mermen  and  mermaids  lived,  and  here  they 
made  the  Prince  so  welcome  that  he  would  never  have 
wished  for  earth  again  if  the  Princess  whom  he  loved  had 
only  been  with  him. 

"Meanwhile  King  Omar  felt  himself  growing  old  and 
feeble,  but  the  nearer  he  came  to  death  the  more  he  de 
sired  to  live.  Then  there  came  into  his  head  a  cunning 
way  to  cheat  the  Angel  of  Death.  He  therefore  summoned 
his  counsel  and  spake  to  them  thus, 

'"It  has  been  foretold  that  I  shall  die  when  my  daughter 
marries.  Now  let  proclamation  be  made  that  whosoever 
shall  bring  to  me  a  cup  of  water  from  the  fountain  of 
youth  shall  have  the  Princess  for  his  wife.  So  shall  I 
drink  of  the  water  and  become  young  again,  and  that 
which  was  to  kill  me  shall  bring  me  life.' 

"Then  there  was  silence  awhile  till  at  last  an  aged 
Mufti  arose. 

"  '  Oh  King !'  said  he,  '  Beware  how  you  resist  the 
words  of  fate.  Is  it  So  easy  to  live  rightly  that  you  would 
crave  for  more  of  life?  He  who  lengthens  the  life  of 
this  world  makes  shorter  the  life  of  the  world  to  come. 
Beware !' 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   TOUTH.  43 

"'Fool!'  said  the  King,  'thou  art  ten  years  younger 
than  I.  Let  it  be  as  I  have  said.' 

"Soon  after  this  the  mermaid  said  to  Ali,  'It  is  time 
Prince  that  you  left  us.  The  King  desires  a  cup  of  the 
fountain  of  youth,  and  to  him  who  brings  it  he  will  give 
the  Princess.  Therefore  have  no  fear,  but  take  thy  sword 
and  this  crystal  flask,  and  passing  through  yonder  gateway 
journey  on  until  you  reach  a  deep  valley,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  you  will  find  the  fountain.  Drink  none,  but  fill 
your  flask  and  hasten  to  the  King  without  pause  or  fear.' 

"With  this  counsel  the  Prince  took  his  sword,  and 
tying  the  flask  about  his  neck  set  out.  As  he  stepped 
through  the  gate-way  of  amber  he  looked  up  and  saw 
above  him  the  splendid  blue  of  the  deep  sea  like  one  vast 
quiet  sapphire.  Before  him  a  gradual  slope  led  down 
wards  over  rocks  and  sea  grasses  which  at  last  ceased, 
and  he  came  upon  a  floor  of  sand  whiter  than  the  purest 
snow. 

"As  the  descent  ended  he  saw  in  front  of  him  a  majes 
tic  angel  of  vast  height.  Her  foot  rested  on  a  marble 
skull  of  huge  proportions,  and  upon  her  brow  was  written 
Azrael. 

"For  a  moment  the  Prince  paused  in  dread;  then  he 
took  courage  and  said  humbly, 

"'Is  this  the  fountain  of  youth  ?'  As  he  ceased  the 
angel  murmured,  '  Out  of  death  cometh  all  life]  and 
solemnly  struck  the  skull  with  her  wand.  Instantly  a 


44  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

purple  liquid  gushed  from  under  the  skull  and  floated  in 
slow  spirals  upward  through  the  still  water. 

"With  a  bound  the  Prince  knelt  at  the  skull,  filled  his 
flask  and  turned  away  in  haste,  for  already  the  purple 
color  was  tinting  the  whole  sea  about  him,  and  he 
remembered  well  the  mermaid's  warning. 

"  Three  days  after  this  Ali  reached  the  court  of  King 
Omar.  To  his  great  joy  he  found  the  court  sitting,  and 
the  King  on  his  throne. 

"  So  splendid  was  Prince  Ali's  dress  and  so  noble  his 
air  that  no  one  stopped  him,  and  he  entered  freely  and 
unquestioned.  Before  him  sat  the  King  his  uncle.  He 
was  very  old,  but  still  vigourous  enough  to  live  for  many 
years  beyond  the  common  span  of  human  life. 

"  Ali  listened  while  the  Muftis  read  aloud  the  promise 
of  the  King  that  whosoever  brought  the  cup  of  water 
from  the  fountain  of  youth  should  marry  the  Princess 
Jessalie. 

"No  sooner  had  they  ended  than  Ali  bowed  before  the 
throne. 

"'Oh  King!'  said  he,  'I  am  the  Prince  Ali,  thy  ne 
phew,  whom  you  would  have  slain.  I  have  brought  to 
you  here  a  cup  of  the  water  of  the  fountain  of  youth, 
Drink,  but  read  first  what  words  have  come  on  the  flask 
since  I  filled  it  at  the  fountain.  Drink  then  if  you  will, 
and  give  me  the  Princess,  for  by  my  sword  this  is  water 
of  the  fountain  of  youth  and  none  other.' 


i    M  -.s;;r  -jkljWl 

ras 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   TOUTH.  45 

"  '  Ha  !'  said  the  King, c  Give  it  to  me  !'  and  tottering  he 
arose  and  descending  a  few  steps  seized  the  flask.  Then 
he  tore  from  it  the  silver  cover  with  which  the  Prince  had 
sealed  it. 

"  At  once  a  dense  purple  vapour  rose  in  clouds  from  the 
lip  of  the  flask  and  curled  upwards  through  the  hall. 
Whosoever  breathed  of  this  his  eyes  flashed  and  he 
dreamed  of  mornings  long  ago,  and  of  fair  women  and  of 
boyhood,  so  that  all  who  felt  it  stood  bewildered. 

"  Then  cried  the  King,  '  I  drink  to  youth  !'  and  would 
have  drained  the  flask,  but  AH  held  his  hand  and  bade 
him  read  the  words  which  were  graven  upon  the  vessel. 

utlt  is  but  a  moment  to  wait  for  youth,'  cried  the 
King,  and  turning  to  a  magician  bade  him  read  the 
words,  '  For,'  said  he,  '  I  am  old  and  my  sight  fails  me.' 

"  '  Oh  my  master !'  said  the  magician,  '  These  are  the 
words : 

"  '  He  who  steals  to-morrows 

Shall  drink  the  wine  of  sorrows.' " 

"  Then  the  aged  counsellor  fell  back  with  an  altered 
face  as  he  breathed  the  purple  fumes,  '  Woe  is  me  !  I  am 
stronger  !  I  am  grown  younger  !  Woe  is  me  !  I  am  fur 
ther  from  Allah.' 

"  But  the  King,  saying  no  word,  set  the  flask  to  his  lips 
and  drained  it  to  the  utmost  drop.  Then  with  a  cry  of 
delight  he  threw  the  vessel  away,  and  shouting  aloud,  '  I 


46  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

am  young  again !'  bounded  up  the  steps  and  pausing 
faced  the  mutely  wondering  crowd. 

"When  he  turned  he  was  seen  as  a  man  in  the  lusty 
vigour  of  life,  stalwart  and  strong  of  limb. 

"  'Ho  !'  he  said,  '  my  guard  !'  but  none  stirred,  for  his 
face  was  still  changing,  and  now  his  beard  was  gone,  and 
it  was  a  lad  who  sat  upon  the  throne,  and  a  lad's  voice 
which  cried  aloud. 

"  '  This  man  to  the  dungeons  !  What  ho  !  my  guard  !' 
And  yet  they  moved  not,  for  the  lad  was  now  a  child. 

"  Still  the  stern  will  worked,  and  the  child-King  said 
faintly,  '  My  guards  !  my  guards  !'  till  his  voice  broke  into 
baby  lispings,  and  now  it  was  an  infant  who  sat  upon 
the  throne. 

"•Then  the  changes  seemed  to  cease,  and  the  ancient 
counsellor  who  had  so  wisely  warned  the  King  cried  aloud, 
'  Allah  il  Allah  !  great  and  wonderful  are  thy  ways  !' 

"When  one  man  had  thus  broken  silence  a  mighty 
tumult  arose,  amidst  which  the  baby  King  looked  right 
and  left  with  blue  eyes  of  wonder. 

"But  Ali  drew  his  sword  and  in  a  terrible  voice 
ordered  the  guard  to  clear  the  hall.  Instantly  he  was 
obeyed,  and  then  there  was  great  counsel  held  as  to  what 
should  be  done  with  the  King.  At  length  it  was  decided 
that  he  should  be  sent  to  the  island  where  Ali  had  lived, 
and  be  kept  there  all  his  days.  These  indeed  proved  few, 
for  it  is  recorded  in  the  chronicles  of  the  kingdom  that  he 


THE  FOUNTAIN  OF   TOUT  PL  47 

took  teething  rather  hard,  and  died  in  his  second  summer 
of  malignant  whooping-cough. 

"As  to  Prince  Ali  he  married  his  cousin  the  Princess 
Jessalie,  and  the  mermen  and  the  mermaids  came  to  the 
wedding  and  brought  with  them  for  presents  pearls  and 
amber  and  tortoise  shells  such  as  folks  never  see  now-a- 
days. 

"  They  lived  long  together,  and  loved  one  another  well, 
and  they  both  died  at  one  and  the  same  moment,  which 
was  the  happiest  thing  of  all  their  happy  lives." 

The  sun  was  not  yet  down  on  the  next  evening  when 
the  young  spielers  began  to  collect  around  Fuz-buz. 

"Tell  us,"  said  one  of  them,  "a  story  about  giants." 

"There's  a  jolly  idea,"  cried  another.  "Is  it  to  be  a 
spider  giant  ?" 

"Ahem  !"  replied  Fuz-buz.  "I  wish  there  were  such 
giants,  and  I  wish  one  of  them  would  come  along  this 
very  moment  and  gobble  you  all  up." 

This  he  said  in  so  fierce  a  voice  that  the  young  spiders 
ran  away  squealing  so  loud  that  if  you  had  been  a  spider 
and  had  owned  an  ear-trumpet,  you  might  have  heard 
them  at  least  three  inches  off. 

As  for  Mrs.  Grabem  she  hurried  in  a  rage  to  Fuz-Buz, 
and  gave  him  a  shake,  saying,  "  Have  a  care  old  rascal, 
how  you  scare  my  young  ones.  Tell  them  a  story  at 
once,  or  you  shall  never  tell  another  on  this  earth." 


48  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

114  Yes,  madam,"  answered  Fuz-buz  very  meekly,  and  as 
soon  as  ever  he  could  get  his  breath  he  began  as  follows, 
to  tell  them  the  story  of  Krusstikuss  and  Growlegrum. 

KRUSSTIKUSS  AND  GROWLEGRUM. 

"There  have  been  many  giants  I  believe,  but  there 
never  were  any  others  like  the  great  giant  Growlegrum 
and  his  twin  brother  Krusstikuss. 

"  These  two  giants  were  both  of  them  Ogres.  Their 
mother  was  an  Afrite,  and  their  grandfather  a  Ghoul. 
On  which  account  they  were  probably  the  most  unplea 
sant  giants  that  anybody  ever  came  across. 

"  When  very  young  they  were  tall  and  stout,  but  one 
day  unluckily  for  Krusstikuss,  his  grandmother,  who  was 
a  fat  giantess,  sat  down  on  him. 

"Not  feeling  anything  in  particular  she  fell  asleep  and 
did  not  awaken  for  three  months. 

"  Of  course  it  was  hard  for  Krusstikuss  to  grow  while 
his  grandmother  sat  upon  him,  so  he  began  to  spread  out 
sideways  and  never  afterwards  got  out  of  the  habit.  He 
therefore  became  as  fat  as  a  bun,  while  his  brother  Grow 
legrum  grewT  as  tall  as  the  highest  tree. 

"  So  one  was  tall,  and  one  stout,  but  both  were  of  the 
same  size  in  wickedness,  and  as  to  Krusstikuss  he  liked 
to  eat  babies,  while  Growlegrum  was  fond  of  young 
ladies,  although  their  hoops  sometimes  disagreed  with 
him. 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  49 

"When  these  monsters  grew  up  they  ate  so  many 
people  that  their  father  told  them  they  would  cause  a 
famine,  and  must  go  away  and  find  another  land  where 
people  were  more  plenty. 

"At  last  they  took  his  advice  and  started  out  together 
to  seek  a  new  home.  After  eating  a  great  many  folks 
they  came  to  a  beautiful  country  where  lived  a  King  who 
had  a  daughter  as  good  as  she  was  pretty. 

"When  the  two  giants  reached  the  borders  of  this  land 
they  sat  down  and  began  to  talk. 

"'I  am  getting  so  big,'  said  Krusstikuss,  'that  I  find 
it  a  labour  to  walk  about  and  look  for  babies.  They  must 
be  very  scarce.' 

"'Not  more  so  than  young  ladies,' cried  Growlegrum. 
'I  should  think  they  would  like  to  be  eaten  before 
they  grow  to  be  old  and  ugly,  but  really  it  does  not  seem 
so.' 

"While  they  were  thus  lamenting  the  scarcity  of  food, 
an  old  woman  with  a  red  cap  and  a  green  kirtle  came 
from  the  wood  and  stood  before  them. 

"  '  Sirs,'  said  she,  '  I  am  a  cousin  of  yours,  and  also  a 
witch.  Why  should  you  be  troubled  about  your  meals  ? 
Order  the  King  Hassan  to  send  hither  twice  every  day 
ten  fat  babies  and  one  young  lady.' 

"  '  Good,'  said  the  giants,  '  we  can  lie  on  these  hills  and 
eat  and  sleep  without  labour.  So  let  it  be.  Go  you  to 
King  Hassan  and  tell  him  to  send  us  the  babies  and  the 
5  C 


50  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

young  ladies  without  fail,  or  else  we  will  eat  him  and  fry 
him  first.' 

"  This  made  the  old  witch  chuckle,  and  she  went  away 
quickly  towards  the  city  with  her  wicked  news.  Pre 
sently  she  entered  the  Palace,  for  she  was  a  cousin  of  the 
King,  and  went  straight  to  the  garden  where  she  told 
King  Hassan  that  the  two  giants  were  on  the  borders  of 
his  country,  and  must  have  ten  babies  and  a  young  lady 
twice  a  day  or  else  they  w^ould  eat  the  King  and  fry  him 
first,  which  made  Hassan  feel  hot  all  over. 

"He  soon  saw  that  he  could  do  nothing  against  such 
vast  monsters,  and  therefore  beat  his  breast  and  ordered 
his  captains  to  take  to  the  giants  the  babies  and  the  young 
ladies. 

"You  maybe  sure  that  when  this  happened  twice  a 
day  for  a  week  folks  began  to  be  very  much  troubled. 
By  and  by  the  mammas  hid  away  the  babies  in  tree-tops 
and  chimnies  and  in  all  sorts  of  out  of  the  way  places. 
And  as  to  young  ladies  there  were  none  to  be  found,  for 
every  one  of  them  put  on  her  brother's  pantaloons,  and 
it  was  hard  work  to  catch  a  woman  at  all. 

"It  chanced  about  this  time  that  the  Princess  was 
walking  in  a  wood  near  the  Palace  when  she  saw  a 
young  girl  crying.  Now  as  the  Princess  was  very  kind- 
hearted  she  stopped  at  once  and  said, 

"  '  Why  do  you  cry  ?     What  ails  you  ?' 

"'Oh  dear!'   said  the  other,   'to-morrow  I   am  to  be 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  51 

taken  by  the  guard  to  be  eaten  by  the  Ogres,  Growlegrum 
and  Krusstikuss,  and  when  I  am  gone  who  will  comfort 
my  old  mother,  for  she  has  no  child  but  me  ?' 

"When  the  Princess  heard  this  she  told  her  to  wait  a 
little,  and  went  herself  to  find  the  King. 

"  'Father,'  said  she,  'it  is  hard  that  all  the  young  girls 
should  be  eaten  alive  by  these  false  giants.  Why  do  not 
you  raise  an  army  and  go  and  fight  and  kill  them  ?  It  is 
base  to  give  up  to  them  in  this  way.  Were  I  a  man  I 
would  slay  them  myself/ 

"'It  would  be  in  vain  to  try,'  answered  the  King. 
'  Well,'  said  the  Princess,  '  to-morrow  I  shall  go  alone  in 
place  of  the  maiden  who  is  chosen,  and  perhaps  some  good 
knight  will  not  willingly  let  me  die  so  mean  a  death.' 

"  The  King  was  very  angry,  but  the  Princess  was 
obstinate.  Then  a  young  Prince  who  was  present  arose 
and  said, 

"'I  have  come,  lady,  a  thousand  miles  to  help  you. 
My  name  is  Prince  Bluets,  and  I  am  the  great-grandson 
of  John,  who  is  sometimes  called  Jack,  the  Giant  Killer. 
Go  to  the  giants  as  you  have  said  and  all  will  yet  be  well.' 

"Then  the  Princess  looked  and  saw  that  the  Prince 
had  brave  eyes  and  was  fair  of  face,  so  she  replied, 

""  '  It  shall  be  as  you  say/ 

"'To-morrow,  then,'  continued  the  Prince,  'you  shall 
2:0  to  the  eiants  and  I  will  follow  vou.  But  first  take 

c5  O  J 

this  amulet  and  hang  it  around  your  neck.     So  long  as 


52  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

you  wear  it  all  things  living  and  dead  will  love  you,  and 
no  giant  will  wish  to  eat  you.' 

"Thus  saying  he  hung  around  her  neck  a  gold  chain, 
and  at  once  she  went  away  and  ordered  her  horse  to  ride 
to  the  giants.  Meanwhile  it  was  proclaimed  that  out  of 
love  for  her  people  the  Princess  was  going  to  beg  the 
giants  to  go  away  and  not  to  eat  any  more  babies. 

"As  for  the  Princess,  she  sent  word  to  the  little  maiden 
in  the  wood  that  she  was  going  in  her  place,  and  then 
bravely  mounted  her  horse  and  rode  through  the  town  to 
the  gate. 

"No  sooner  did  the  people  see  her  than  they  began  to 
follow  her,  because  the  amulet  made  every  one  wish  to 
be  near  to  her.  But  at  the  gate  she  bade  them  return, 
and  rode  away  alone  into  the  wood,  though  even  there 
the  charm  still  worked,  and  all  things  loved  her  more  and 
more.  The  sun  stared  her  in  the  eyes  like  a  gallant  over 
bold,  and  the  wind  played  with  her  chestnut  hair  and  was 
happy,  and  the  leaves  bent  down  and  kissed  her,  and  all 
the  mice  and  the  birds  and  the  bears  and  the  foxes  came 
out  and  followed  her. 

"But  when  she  came  near  to  the  two  Ogres  and  saw 
them  sitting  on  a  hill  with  their  white  eyes  and  rough 
faces  and  great  black  teeth  like  marble  tombstones,  all 
the  animals  set  up  a  dismal  howl  and  ran  away.  Yet 
still  the  lady  rode  along,  and  presently  the  two  giants 
became  aware  of  her  presence. 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  53 

"Then  said  Growlegrum,  'Here  comes  dinner,'  but 
when  she  drew  nearer  he  added,  '  She's  too  pretty  to  eat. 
Who  are  you  my  dear  ?' 

"'I  am  the  Princess  Violet,'  said  she,  'the  King's 
daughter.' 

"'Hah!'  said  both  of  the  Ogres,  'You  shall  be  my 
wife.' 

"  'Well,'  cried  she,  'I  cannot  have  two  husbands  ;  put 
me  in  a  safe  place  and  after  I  have  known  you  both  for  a 
month  I  can  decide  which  I  will  have  for  my  husband.' 

"  '  Good,'  returned  Krusstikuss,  '  So  let  it  be.'  Then 
they  lifted  her  gently  and  put  her  near  by  in  a  castle 
whose  owner  they  had  devoured,  and  every  day  they 
brought  her  goodies  to  eat,  enough  for  twenty  dinners. 

"  In  the  morning  came  Growlegrum  and  looked  over 
the  castle  wall  and  said,  '  I  love  you  my  clear.'  But  in 
the  afternoons  came  Krusstikuss  and  said, '  Bless  me  !  how 
I  love  you  !'  Now  the  Princess  knew  that  within  a  month 
she  should  hear  of  Prince  Bluets. 

"As  for  that  Prince  he  went  away  to  a  magician  and 
asked  him  how  he  could  become  thin. 

"  'There  are  four  ways,'  answered  the  magician, 

1  Eat  nothing, 

'  Fall  in  love, 

'  Become  jealous,  and 

'Think  ever  so  much.' 

"Then  said  the  Prince, 'The  advice  is  good/  and  so 
I* 


54  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

saying  he  gave  him  three  links  of  a  gold  chain  which  he 
wore,  and  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  swiftly  until  he 
came  to  a  high  hill  which  at  a  great  distance  overlooked 
the  castle  where  the  lady  was.  Here  he  sat  down  and 
with  his  spy-glass  looked  until  he  saw  Krusstikuss  kissing 
his  great  hand  to  the  lady. 

"  This  made  him  horribly  jealous,  and  at  once  he  began 
to  get  thin.  Then  for  four  days  he  ate  nothing  and  so 
became  thinner  and  thinner.  Of  course  he  was  miser 
ably  in  love,  and  this  also  made  him  lose  flesh. 

"After  four  days  he  was  still  too  fat,  so  he  began  to 
think  of  all  the  hard  conundrums  and  riddles  and  charades 
that  ever  were  heard  of,  but  at  last  when  he  had  been  two 
days  thinking  how  to  make  apple  pies  out  of  donkies  he 
became  so  thin  that  his  bones  were  no  thicker  than  walk 
ing  sticks,  and  when  he  stood  sideways  he  had  no  shadow 
at  all. 

"Then  he  took  his  sword  and  walking  carefully  for 
fear  of  breaking  into  halves  or  of  being  blown  away, 
he  descended  the  hill,  and  late  at  night  knocked  at  a 
side  door  of  the  castle  where  the  Princess  Violet  now 
lived. 

"As  soon  as  she  heard  the  noise  she  came  to  the  door 
and  said, 

"'Who  is  it?' 

"'It  is  I,'  answered  the  Prince,  but  his  voice  was  so 
thin  that  he  could  hardly  be  heard,  and  if  the  Princess 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  55 

had  not  loved  him  she  never  would  have  been  able  to 
hear  a  word  he  said. 

"'My  love,'  he  cried,  'It  is  I,  Prince  Bluets.  Pre 
sently  I  shall  squeeze  my  head  through  the  key-hole,  and 
you  must  then  seize  me  by  the  hair  and  drag  me  in.' 

"  Of  course  giants'  castles  have  very  large  key-holes, 
and  as  the  Prince  was  as  thin  as  could  be  he  easily  pushed 
his  head  through  the  key-hole,  when  the  Princess  took 
hold  of  his  hair,  and  pretty  soon  drew  him  into  the  castle. 

"  She  was  very  much  amazed  when  she  saw  him  so 
lean  and  meagre,  but  the  Prince  explained  it  all  and 
they  sat  down  and  had  a  good  talk  until  morning,  when 
the  Prince  hid  away  in  a  corner  under  some  hay. 

"  By  and  by  came  Krusstikuss,  and  looking  over  the 
castle  wall  said  in  a  large  voice,  '  I  love  you  my  dear. 
Here  are  some  nice  little  dishes  for  breakfast?'  and  so 
saying,  he  emptied  his  pockets  of  about  two  wagon  loads 
of  cakes  and  candy  and  bon-bons  and  all  kind  of  goodies 
such  as  Princesses  eat. 

"  '  Sir,'  said  the  Princess,  '  If  I  am  to  be  a  gianfs  \vife, 
I  must  learn  to  eat  babies.  If  you  love  me  you  will  bring 
me  all  the  babies  you  get,  that  I  may  keep  them  until 
they  get  so  fat  and  tender  that  I  shall  be  tempted  to  eat 
them.' 

"  '  But  what  shall  I  live  on  myself?'  cried  Krusstikuss. 

"  'Oh  !'  said  the  Princess,  '  if  you  are  in  love  you  will 
not  care  to  eat.' 


56  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

"'That's  queer,'  returned  the  giant,  'but  I  suppose  it 
won't  hurt  me  to  suck  my  paws  for  awhile  like  the 
bears.' 

"  Then  he  took  four  babies  out  of  his  hat  and  two  out 
of  his  pockets,  saying,  '  I  am  sorry,  but  I  ate  four  on  the 
way.  To-morrow  you  shall  have  all,  and  when  you  get 
them  fat  enough  I  will  come  and  dine  with  you.' 

"After  this  he  went  away  leaving  the  babies  to  the 
Princess,  who  put  them  all  in  a  row  and  fed  them  with 
nine  dough-nuts  apiece,  so  that  if  they  did  not  get  fat  it 
was  not  her  fault. 

"  In  the  afternoon  came  Growlegrum,  who  was  as  big 
in  length  as  Krusstikuss  was  sideways. 

"'My  love,'  said  he,  when  he  had  peeped  over  the 
wall,  'What's  this?  Babies/ 

"'Sir,'  she  replied,  'Your  brother  loves  me,  and  has 
promised  me  all  the  babies,  that  I  may  fatten  them.  If 
you  also  love  me  at  all,  you  will  give  me  the  young 
ladies  you  were  to  eat  every  day,  that  I  may  have  some 
one  to  take  care  of  the  babies  and  feed  them.' 

"  'Ah  me  !'  said  the  giant,  '  I  shall  die  of  starvation.' 

"  'Don't,  if  you  love  me,'  said  Violet. 

"  '  Enough,'  cried  Growlegrum.  '  Here  lovely  Princess 
is  the  first,  and  every  day  you  shall  have  another.' 

"So  saying,  he  jerked  a  beautiful  young  lady  out  of  his 
pocket  and  set  her  down  inside  of  the  castle. 

"  '  Good-bye,'  said  the  Princess. 


-.. 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  57 

"  '  Good-bye,'  said  the  giant,  '  If  I  stay  I  shall  steal  a 
baby.' 

"So  he  gnashed  his  ugly  grim  teeth  and  walked  away 
with  vast  steps. 

"When  he  was  out  of  sight  Prince  Bluets  came  forth, 
and  the  Princess  and  he  laughed  with  joy,  because  of  the 
babies  whom  they  had  saved.  But  as  there  was  no  time 
to  lose  the  Prince  kissed  her  and  wriggled  through  the 
key-hole  again. 

"Then  in  haste  he  ran  into  the  woods  and  took  the 
road  which  led  to  the  city  where  King  Hassan  lived. 

"  On  the  way  he  heard  voices,  and  climbing  a  tree  he 
listened  eagerly  until  he  learned  that  these  came  from  five 
persons  who  were  dressed  in  long  robes  and  were  riding 
from  the  town.  By  good  luck  they  rested  a  little  while 
just  under  the  tree  in  which  Bluets  lay  hidden.  He  soon 
understood  that  all  five  were  lawyers  whom  the  King  had 
sent  to  see  Krusstikuss,  that  they  might  offer  the  Princess 
in  marriage  to  him  with  half  of  the  kingdom  if  he  would 
send  his  brother  away,  and  learn  to  eat  beef  and  mutton  in 
place  of  babies. 

"  '  Ho  !'  said  the  Prince,  '  This  won't  do,'  so  he  waited 
till  they  left,  and  then  descending  ran  back  to  the  castle 
and  called  the  Princess. 

"  Then  through  the  key-hole  he  gave  her  a  little  advice 
about  the  five  lawyers.  After  this  he  went  away  once 
more  towards  the  city. 

C* 


58  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

"As  for  the  Princess  she  waved  her  handkerchief  from 
the  castle  wall  until  Growlegrum  espied  her  and  strode 
over  the  hills  and  valleys  to  the  castle. 

"'Sir,'  she  said,  'Do  not  be  surprised  if  you  see  a 
party  of  men  in  gowns  coming  from  the  city.  Go  and 
meet  them,  if  they  think  you  are  Krusstikuss  they  will 
tell  you  something.' 

"  '  Good,'  answered  he.  '  Now  I  perceive  that  you 
love  me.' 

"  Then,  without  waiting,  he  walked  towards  the  city. 
A  little  way  on  he  met  the  five  lawyers.  As  soon  as  they 
saw  him  they  dismounted  and  threw  themselves  on  the 
ground. 

"  'What  do  ye  want?'  roared  Growlegrum. 

"'Oh  sir!'  said  they,  'we  would  see  the  great  giant 
Krusstikuss.' 

"  '  It  is  well,'  returned  the  giant.     '  Speak.' 

"  'Sir,'  said  they,  'We  come  to  offer  to  the  great  giant 
Krusstikuss  one-half  of  the  kingdom  and  the  Princess  for 
a  wife.' 

"  '  Ha !'  answered  the  giant,  '  and  what  shall  his  bro 
ther  have  ?' 

"  '  Perhaps,'  returned  one  of  the  lawyers,  '  he  might  be 
persuaded  to  leave,  or  else  your  highness  could  quietly 
knock  him  on  the  head.' 

"'Scoundrels!'  roared  Growlegrum,  'My  name  is  not 
Krusstikuss.  I'll  teach  you  to  make  trouble,  you  rascals.' 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  59 

"Upon  this  he  seized  them  one  after  another,  and  ate 
the  whole  five.  The  effects  of  this  meal  were  dreadful. 
In  five  minutes  Growlegrum  was  bent  double  with 
stomach-ache,  for  you  see  the  lawyers  disagreed  with  him, 
and  they  also  disagreed  with  one  another  inside  of  him. 

"But  this  was  not  all,  for  in  a  few  moments  he  began 
to  grow  so  quarrelsome  that  he  became  the  most  unsafe 
giant  that  could  anywhere  be  found. 

"In  half  an  hour  he  was  outrageous,  and  by  the  time 
he  met  his  brother  he  was  ready  to  fight  anybody. 

"Well  the  end  of  it  was  they  did  fight.  They  fought 
for  two  days  and  two  nights,  when  Krusstikuss  got  so 
weak  that  Growlegrum  took  him  up  by  the  heels  and 
stood  him  on  his  head  and  gave  him  a  mighty  spin,  for 
he  was  made  just  like  a  top,  and  then,  while  he  was 
spinning,  treated  him  to  a  kick,  and  hoisted  him  over  two 
hills  into  the  sea,  where  he  spun  to  the  bottom  and  never 
more  was  heard  of. 

"When  this  awful  battle  was -over  Growlegrum  sat  on 
a  hill  and  began  to  pick  his  teeth  with  a  fence  rail.  Mean 
while  Prince  Bluets  hastened  to  the  city. 

"  He  had  gone  but  a  little  way  when  who  should  he  see 
but  his  great-great-grandfather  Jack,  the  Giant  Killer, 
who  had  journeyed  a  long  way  to  see  what  had  become 
of  Bluets.  After  they  had  embraced  one  another,  the 
Prince  told  his  grandfather  all  that  had  passed. 

" '  You  have  done  well,'  said  Jack,  '  but  we  must  now 


60  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

get  rid  of  this  other  giant  who  I  hear  is  a  terrible  fellow. 
Let  us  go  and  see  him.' 

" '  Very  well/  replied  Bluets,  '  We  will  go,'  and  so 
saying  they  turned,  and  very  soon  spied  Growlegrum  sit 
ting  on  the  hill.  As  soon  as  ever  he  saw  them  he  roared 
out, 

"  '  Dinner  !     Here  comes  my  dinner  !' 

"When  they  had  come  still  nearer  Jack  cried  aloud,  'I 
am  Jack,  the  Giant  Killer,  and  I  have  come  to  visit  you.' 

"'Ha,  ha!'  laughed  the  giant,  'You  are  a  little  man 
and  brave.'  'There  is  one  thing  you  cannot  do,  big 
though  you  be,'  said  Jack. 

"'Name  it,'  said  Growlegrum.  'I  can  pull  up  trees 
and  kick  down  towns  and  chew  cannon  balls  and  eat  you. 
What  is  there  I  cannot  do  ?' 

"  'Sir,'  answered  Jack,  'All  these  things  are  easy.'  'If 
I  cannot  eat  anything  and  kill  anybody  I  will  quit  this 
land  and  go  home,'  said  the  giant  in  a  rage. 

"  '  Good  !'  cried  Jack,  '  Come  with  us.' 

"Upon  this  the  giant  picked  them  both  up  and  walked 
off  in  the  direction  which  Jack  pointed  out.  Presently 
they  came  to  a  house. 

"  '  Stop  !'  said  Jack,  and  the  giant  set  them  down. 

"  'Eat  the  man  who  lives  in  that  house,'  said  Jack. 

"  'Poh !'  cried  Growlegrum,  and  gave  the  house  a  kick 
which  knocked  it  down  in  a  twinkling.  Then  he  pulled 
out  of  the  ruins  a  man  who  began  to  roar  for  mercy. 


KRUSSTIKUSS  AND    GROWLEGRUM.  61 

"  '  Oh  dear  !'  he  said,  '  Don't  eat  me,  and  I  will  never 
fib  any  more,  and  never  make  any  more  speeches  ever 
again.' 

"  'Who  is  he?'  asked  the  giant.  'A  member  of  Con 
gress]  cried  Jack. 

"'Eat  him  ?  eat  him?  said  the  giant,  'I  don't  want  to 
be  poisoned.  You  must  think  I  am  a  fool.' 

'"Eat  him!'  cried  Jack. 

'"No,  sir,'  said  Krusstikuss.  'I'd  rather  leave.  If  I 
must  die  I  would  like  to  die  easy.' 

"So  saying  the  giant  gave  a  groan  and  set  off  across 
the  hills.  I  do  not  know  where  he  went,  but  I  suppose 
he  travelled  home  to  his  mamma,  and  told  her  what  a  fool 
Jack  had  made  of  him. 

"As  soon  as  the  giant  had  gone  Jack  and  Prince 
Bluets  went  to  the  castle  and  set  free  the  Princess  and 
all  the  babies,  who  showed  their  gratitude  by  screaming 
for  a  week.  But  perhaps  this  might  have  been  owing  to 
the  dough-nuts  they  had  eaten. 

"I  do  believe  there  never  was  such  a  wedding  as  that 
of  Prince  Bluets  and  Princess  Violet,  for  all  the  fairy 
folk  came,  and  Cinderella  and  all  the  fairy  godmothers, 
and  Aladdin,  and  Prince  Nosey,  and  the  seven  champions, 
and  Hop  O'iny  Thumb,  Goody  Two  Shoes,  and  Red 
Riding  Hood.  All  of  them  brought  presents  to  the  bride, 
but  the  Prince  gave  her  only  his  love  and  took  away  from 


62  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

her  the  amulet  for  fear  it  should  make  any  one  love  her 
more  than  he  could." 

During  the  next  week  it  rained  so  hard  every  day 
that  no  one  of  the  spider's  family  could  venture  out  of 
their  den. 

It  was  no  wonder  that  they  became  hungry  for  sto 
ries,  and  that  at  the  first  gleam  of  sunshine  they  all  ran 
together  and  began  to  pull  at  the  line  of  cobweb  to  which 
poor  Fuz-Buz  was  fettered. 

As  for  Fuz-Buz  he  was  so  wet  and  cold  that  he  crawled 
out  of  his  hole  with  trouble  and  pain. 

"Ah,  my  dears  !"  cried  he.  "I  ache  all  over  with  the 
gout.  We  lived  too  high  in  Spain  I  fear." 

"  Bother  the  gout !"  said  the  spiders. 

"Tell  us  a  new  story,  and  pretty  soon  too,  or  mammy 
will  eat  you,  and  won't  that  be  worse  than  the  gout?" 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  Fuz-Buz,  "I  think  I  would 
rather  be  eaten  up  at  once,  and  have  it  over." 

"  Ha !  ha !"  cried  Mrs.  Grabem,  who  overheard  what 
the  fly  had  said. 

"  Ha !  ha !  you  would  like  to  be  eaten ;  would  you 
like  to  have  your  legs  pulled  off  and  your  wings  torn, 
and ?" 

"  Oh  dear  !  oh  dear  !"  shrieked  Fuz-Buz.  "  Pray  stop, 
I  am  all  in  a  shiver.  I  will  never  be  so  hasty  again." 

"Very  well,"  returned  the  spider  firmly.     "See  that 


MUSTAPHA,    OR    THE  MUSICAL    GOURD.        63 

you  remember  what  I  have  said,  and  on  no  account  ven 
ture  to  keep  my  blessed  little  children  waiting.  It  spoils 
their  tempers  for  life.  I  will  have  no  more  of  it." 

When  Mrs.  Grabem  ceased,  all  the  young  spiders  cried 
aloud, 

"You  had  better  take  care,  or  mammy  will  finish 
you?" 

"How  are  your  legs?"  said  one. 

"Where  is  that  story?"  said  another. 

"Here  it  is,"  answered  Fuz-Buz,  tapping  his  head.  "I 
have  it  all  here  ever  since  the  day  I  heard  it  told  by  a 
famous  Dervish  at  the  porch  of  the  great  Mosque  of 
Salamanca." 

MUSTAPHA,  OR  THE  MUSICAL  GOURD. 

"In  the  year  of  the  Hegira,  709,  and  the  twelfth  of  our 
Caliph  Haroun,  the  Magnificent,  there  lived  in  the  royal 
city  of  Bagdad  a, cobbler  of  the  name  of  Ali  Ben  Slippah. 

"  His  shop  was  small,  but  being  well  situated  at  the 
corner  of  the  street  of  the  Prophet,  and  the  great  street  of 
Mosques,  the  cobbler  managed  to  live  very  comfortably, 
so  that  with  the  aid  of  Smyrna  tobacco  and  a  contented 
disposition  which  the  poet  has  well  called  the  '  Pipe  of 
the  just,'  he  eked  out  a  tranquil  life  free  from  care  and 
ambition. 

"  His  house  was  neatly  kept  by  his  daughter  Lelie,  or 
the  Dark-eyed,  who  was  a  little  maiden  with  lips  like  the 


64  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

roses  of  Istamboul,  and  cheeks  as  darkly  lovely  *as  the 
brown  lilies  of  Ispahan. 

"Besides  these  the  sole  remaining  member  of  their 
household  was  a  great  black  cat  known  by  the  name  of 
Yussef,  or  the  Hump-backed,  because  she  was  always  in 
an  evil  humour,  and  was  forever  hunching  her  back  up 
to  show  how  cross  she  felt. 

"  It  so  chanced  that  when  Lelie  was  a  child  this  cat 
pursued  by  boys  and  dogs  had  taken  refuge  with  Lelie, 
who  had  saved  her  life.  Thenceforward  she  had  never 
left  her,  but  was  so  jealous  of  her  mistress  that  it  was 
enough  to  look  at  her  to  drive  the  Pussy  crazy  with 
rage. 

"Now  to  let  you  into  a  secret.  You  should  know  that 
Yussef  was  a  wicked  genius  who  for  a  terrible  crime  had 
been  condemned  to  live  an  hundred  years  in  the  body  of 
a  cat. 

"About  the  time  at  which  this  true  story  begins,  a 
young  soldier  of  the  Caliph's  guard,  whose  name  was 
Mustapha,  fell  in  love  with  Lelie,  and  as  he  was  very 
handsome  and  clever,  was  so  lucky  as  to  make  her  also 
love  him  in  return. 

"  Unhappily  for  them  both,  Yussef  overheard  Mustapha 
speaking  of  the  day  when  they  were  to  be  married,  and 
at  once  fell  into  a  fit  of  jealousy  which  was  dreadful 
to  see. 

"In  her  wrath  she  flew  at  Mustapha  and  scratched  his 


MUSTAPHA,    OR    THE  MUSICAL    GOURD.        65 

nose,  then^knocked  down  and  broke  the  cobbler's  best 
chibouque,  and  at  length  dashed  out  of  the  house  just  as 
All  Ben  Slippah  threw  his  lap-stone  at  her  in  fierce 
anger,  because  of  his  broken  pipe. 

"It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  Yussef  darted  out, 
and  with  her  heart  full  of  jealous  rage  bounded  up  the 
walls  and  over  the  house-tops,  until  at  last  she  seated  her 
self  on  a  gable  and  began  to  think. 

"  As  it  became  later  she  was  suddenly  aware  of  a  noble- 
looking  person  who  was  walking  slowly  along,  followed 
at  a  short  distance  by  four  guards  with  drawn  scimetars. 

"As  soon  as  Yussef  saw  the  cavalier  she  knew  that  he 
was  the  Caliph,  and  remembering  that  he  was  then  seek 
ing  everywhere  for  beautiful  women  to  wait  upon  his  sick 
daughter,  she  formed  on  the  moment  the  most  spiteful 
scheme  of  mischief  that  ever  you  heard  of. 

"With  two  or  three  crazy  leaps  she  alighted  at  the  feet 
of  the  Caliph  and  began  to  miaou  a  tune  of  the  most  sin 
gular  character. 

"  'By  the  beard  of  the  Prophet!'  said  Haroun  al  Ras- 
chid,  '  This  is  passing  wonderful !  Catch  that  cat !' 

"But  Yussef  was  too  quick  for  that.  She  turned  two 
somersaults,  and  miaoued  again.  The  guards  and  the 
Caliph  followed  her  in  wonder,  while  she  retreated  until 
they  came  to  the  cobbler's  door.  Here  she  miaoued  once 
more,  and  leaped  into  an  open  window. 

"When  the  Caliph  drew  near  as  she  had  desired  he 
6* 


66  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

would  do,  he  looked  into  the  window  and  saw-  the  beau 
tiful  Lelie. 

"  '  Bismillah  !'  cried  he,  as  he  thrust  back  the  guards. 
4  Blessed  be  cats  for  evermore  !  Here  is  the  maiden  I  have 
sought  for  my  daughter.' 

"  So  saying,  he  turned  and  gave  brief  orders  to  his 
attendants  bidding  them  be  careful  and^  secret ;  and  thus 
saying  moved  away  quietly  through  the  deserted  streets. 

"Very  early  next  morning  when  the  cobbler  had  gone 
to  market  Yussef  heard  a  noise,  and  looking  saw  the 
shop  full  of  black  slaves  who  seized  Lelie,  muffled  her  in 
a  shawl,  and  leaving  a  bag  of  gold  on  the  counter  hurried 
away  swiftly. 

"As  soon  as  they  left  Yussef  hastened  after  them,  and 
when  they  entered  a  gilded  caique  on  the  Tigris,  she  also 
tried  to  leap  into  the  boat.  But  to  her  dismay  one  of  the 
guards  seized  her  by  the  tail  and  threw  her  thirty  feet 
away  into  the  river. 

"Yussef  spluttered  and  spit  as  she  came  to  the  surface, 
and  must  surely  have  been  drowned  had  she  been  a  real 
cat. 

"As  it  was  she  lost  three  out  of  her  nine  lives,  and  un 
luckily  came  to  land  on  the  premises  of  a  tanner  where 
she  was  set  upon  by  six  dogs  who  tore  her  hair  out  and 
bit  her  tail,  and  altogether  so  misused  her  that  she  came 
to  look  more  like  a  bit  of  ill-used  foot-rug  than  a  respect 
able  Maltese  cat. 


MUSTAPHA,    OR   THE  MUSICAL    GOURD.        67 

"At  last,  with  her  heart  full  of  rage  and  her  stomach 
full  of  water,  she  reached  home  to  find  the  poor  cobbler 
in  the  utmost  grief  for  the  loss  of  his  daughter. 

"By  and  by  he  resigned  himself  to  his  fate,  and  seeing 
well  that  no  common  person  had  stolen  the  maiden,  he 
smoked  the  more  abundantly,  and  like  a  true  believer 
took  comfort  in  that  verse  of  the  Koran  which  says,  '  All 
things  that  are  are  well ;  but  some,  saith  the  Prophet,  are 
disagreeable.' 

"Meanwhile  poor  Mustapha  became  nearly  crazed 
with  grief.  He  roamed  the  streets  all  day,  and  at  even 
ing  returned  to  the  cobbler's  in  the  vain  hope  of  hearing 
some  news  of  Lelie. 

"  On  one  of  these  occasions  he  was  so  unlucky  as  to 
stumble  over  Yussef  who  gave  him  a  fierce  scratch,  and 
fled  from  his  wrath  to  devise  new  plans  of  mischief,  for 
although  Lelie  was  gone,  she  was  lost  to  herself  as 
well  as  to  Mustapha,  and  the  cat  never  had  ceased  to  hate 
him  as  the  cause  of  all  her  troubles. 

"  Yussef  therefore  resolved  to  rid  herself  of  his  presence, 
and  she  set  about  it  after  her  own  wicked  fashion. 

"  Some  two  or  three  nights  later  Mustapha  was  wan 
dering  sadly  in  the  gardens  of  the  Caliph  when  he  heard 
a  voice  from  the  trees  above  him  saying, 

"  '  Come  to-night  to  the  tomb  of  the  Caliphs,  under  the 
cedars,  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  and  thou  shalt  hear 
news  of  thy  love.' 


68  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

"  The  voice  sounded  like  that  of  Lelie,  and  the  soldier 
in  vain  sought  about  him  on  every  side  for  its  source.  At 
length  the  words  were  repeated  and  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  obey  them. 

"It  was  near  midnight  when  Mustapha  found  him 
self  at  the  appointed  spot.  All  Bagdad  lay  behind  him 
still  and  slumbering.  Here  and  there  a  long  arrow  of 
light  darted  from  some  tall  minaret,  while  the  full  moon- 
ligrft  pouring  down  on  the  Mosque  of  El  Rahab  lit  up  its 
golden  dome  like  a  mound  of  fire. 

"  Before  him  the  quiet  groves  of  fig  and  olive,  pome 
granates  and  mourning  cypresses  stretched  away  for 
miles,  bounded  in  the  far  distance  by  the  curves  of  the 
Tigris,  whose  broad  bendings  flashed  in  the  light  like 
gigantic  scimetars. 

"As  Mustapha  approached  the  Caliph's  tomb  he  came 
to  an  open  space  girt  in  by  dense  thickets.  Pushing  these 
aside  he  stepped  cautiously  forward,  for  he  heard  a  sound 
of  music  and  voices. 

"Presently  a  fire  flashed  up  on  the  open  ground  among 
the  ruined  tombs,  and  the  soldier  shook  with  fear  as  he 
looked  on  what  its  light  revealed. 

"  Seated  about  the  slope  which  led  downwards  on 
every  side  to  a  broken  tomb  were  gigantic  figures  in 
white  robes  that  floated  about  them  like  mist,  so  that 
only  sometimes  he  could  see  their  solemn  faces. 

"From  the  tomb  came  slowly  a  long  procession  of 


MUSTAPHA,  OR    THE  MUSICAL  GOURD,         69 

Ghouls  and  Vampires  and  Afrites  of  hideous  shapes,  such 
as  men  see  in  dreams,  while  all  the  air  and  the  ground 
seemed  to  be  alive  with  a  myriad  of  little  winged  forms 
who  hovered  about  like  butterflies. 

"At  last  there  was  silence,  when  Yussef  suddenly  ap 
peared  before  the  tallest  of  the  Genii,  and  miaoued  fright 
fully. 

"Then  the  Genie  said  in  a  mild  great  voice,  'What 
would  you  of  your  brethren  ?' 

"  '  The  man,'  said  Yussef,  'who  has  mocked  my  fallen 
estate  and  stolen  my  love  from  me  is  here  awaiting  judg 
ment.' 

"When  Mustapha  heard  these  words  he  was  ready  to 
die  with  fear,  but  his  limbs  refused  to  bear  him  away  and 
he  was  forced  to  support  himself  by  grasping  a  tree. 

"'Oh  King,'  cried  Yussef,  'Let  him  be  brought  to 
thee.' 

"  '  Be  it  so  !'  said  the  Genie. 

"At  this  two  fearful-looking  Afrites  leaped  into  the  air, 
and  with  one  swoop  of  their  clawed  wings  alighted  beside 
Mustapha.  Then  they  seized  him  and  thrust  him  into 
the  circle  before  the  cloudy  form  of  the  King  of  the  Genii 
who  thus  addressed  him. 

"  '  It  is  not  given  us  to  slay,  but  that  thou  shalt  no  more 
trouble  us  we  order  thee  to  become  a  gourd,  and  as  we 
may  not  sentence  any  to  an  endless  fate  it  shall  be  that 


70  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

when  it  pleaseth  Allah  to  turn  thee  inside  out  thou  shalt 
then  only  assume  again  the  form  of  man.' 

"  4  It  is  well,'  cried  Yussef.     '  Thanks,  oh  King  !' 

"At  these  words  Mustapha  fainted.  When  he  reco 
vered  he  found  himself  hanging  on  a  vine  near  by,  and 
presently  discovered  that  he  was  a  huge  green  gourd. 

"After  this  many  days  fled  away,  and  Mustapha  the 
gourd  grew  bigger  and  bigger,  and  at  last  began  to  ripen 
and  turn  yellow. 

"  Every  night  as  he  hung  on  the  vine  he  saw  the  strange 
midnight  meetings  of  the  Genii  and  Ghouls  and  Afrites. 
All  the  wonderful  things  he  heard  and  saw  no  one  will 
ever  know,  for  he  saw  their  wild  feasts  and  dances,  and 
heard  music  such  as  before  no  mortal  ears  had  ever 
listened  to. 

"At  length  one  warm  summer  morning  two  farmers 
came  by  on  the  way  to  market. 

"  '  Bismillah !'  cried  one,  as  he  saw  the  great  gourd 
Mustapha.  '  What  a  monstrous  gourd  !' 

"  '  Let  us  take  it  with  us  and  sell  it,'  said  the  second. 

"  Thus  saying  he  took  a  knife  from  his  girdle  and  cut 
the  stem  by  which  Mustapha  hung.  This  caused  him  so 
much  pain  that  he  cried  aloud, 

"  'What's  that?'  said  the  farmer.  '  The  gourd  speaks  ! 
It  is  alive !' 

"Upon  this  he  pricked  the  gourd  with  his  knife.  At 
this  Mustapha  exclaimed,  '  Don't !' 


MUSTAPHA,    OR    THE  MUSICAL    GOURD.        71 

"  '  Mahomet !'  said  the  farmer.  '  The  thing  is  enchanted. 
It  will  fetch  us  a  fortune.' 

"Shortly  afterwards  they  carried  the  gourd  to  the 
market.  Here  they  made  a  goodly  fortune  by  running 
pins  into  Mustapha  that  he  might  cry  out  for  the  amuse 
ment  of  the  by-standers. 

"Before  long  all  Bagdad  flocked  to  see  and  hear  this 
wonderful  gourd,  and  at  last  an  officer  of  the  Caliph's 
household  arrived,  payed  a  great  sum  for  the  gourd,  and 
putting  it  in  a  basket,  carried  it  away  to  the  Palace. 

"By  and  by  Mustapha  found  himself  in  a  superb 
room  of  the  Palace,  where,  surrounded  by  her  ladies,  the 
Princess  lay  upon  a  couch. 

"  Suddenly  Mustapha  the  gourd  as  he  lay  in  his  basket 
heard  the  voice  of  his  beloved  Lelie  who  was  fanning  the 
Princess. 

"This  so  moved  poor  Mustapha  that  he  cried  aloud, 

"  'Allah  !  I  hear  my  love  !'  and  so  saying  rolled  from 
the  basket  and  fell  at  Lelie's  feet. 

"'Mahomet!'  cried  the  Princess.  'The  thing  is  be 
witched  !  take  it  away  !' 

"  But  as  for  Lelie  the  words  were  as  sweet  music  to 
her,  and  seizing  the  gourd  she  placed  it  tenderly  in  the 
basket  and  carried  it  to  her  room.  Here  she  implored  it 
with  tears  to  speak  again,  but  in  vain  ;  so  that  at  last  she 
was  forced  to  leave  it  and  return  to  the  Princess. 

"  Soon  after  she  had  gone  Mustapha  was  aware  of  a 


72  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY. 

rose-colored  cloud  in  the  room,  out  of  which  grew  into 
shape  the  form  of  a  huge  Genie  which  thus  addressed 
him. 

"  i  Know,  frail  mortal,  that  I  am  your  guardian  spirit. 
I  have  heard  with  pity  of  your  sad  fate  and  am  come  to 
give  you  a  chance  for  life  again.  Perhaps  what  I  shall 
do  for  you  may  render  your  position  better.  Unluckily  I 
cannot  give  to  you  once  more  your  mortal  shape.' 

"With  these  words  the  figure  inclined  towards  him 
gravely  and  touched  his  yellow  cheek.  He  shuddered 
and  lost  consciousness. 

"What  next  was  his  amazement  to  find  himself  stand 
ing  in  the  shop  of  Harim,  the  merchant.  Presently  he 
began  to  look  at  himself  with  curious  care.  He  had  a 
gold  head  like  that  of  a  bird,  with  ruby  eyes.  His  neck 
was  of  satin  wood,  long  and  slim,  while  his  clothes  which 
were  stiffened  with  whalebone  and  wire,  resembled  petti 
coats  upside  down. 

"  'Allah  il  Allah  !'  cried  he,  'What  an  existence  !' 

"Just  then  a  Dervish  looking  at  him  asked  the  mer 
chant,  '  What  is  that  ?' 

"'It  is,'  answered  he,  'a  Prankish  device  which  the 
men  in  Frangistan  carry  to  keep  off  the  rain.  Their 
women  are  only  allowed  to  carry  smaller  ones,  so  they 
make  up  for  that  by  bearing  them  about  in  fair  as  well  as 
wet  weather.' 


MUSTAPHA,    OR    THE  MUSICAL    GOURD.        73 

"  'A  device  of  Eblis  !'  exclaimed  the  Dervish,  and  mut 
tering  a  verse  of  the  Koran,  walked  gravely  away. 

"By  and  by  came  the  grand  Purveyor  of  the  Caliph. 
He  was  seeking  new  and  curious  things  for  the  Princess, 
who  was  ill  and  refused  to  eat  so  that  day  after  day  she 
became  more  feeble. 

"'Ah!'  said  the  Purveyor,  'This  is  a  Frank  tent.  I 
saw  them  when  I  was  Envoy  to  the  court  of  Charle 
magne/ 

"At  this  Mustapha  blushed,  for  the  officer  seized  him 
and  began  to  expand  his  skirts  so  that  his  leg,  for  he  had 
but  one,  was  alarmingly  exposed. 

"Very  soon  the  Purveyor,  having  paid  a  good  price, 
took  Mustapha  away  to  the  Palace  where  he  explained 
the  uses  of  this  portable  tent. 

"'This,'  said  he,  'Is  what  the  Franks,  whom  Allah 
confound !  call  an  umbrella,  and  the  female  of  the  thing 
they  term  a  parasol.' 

"'I  shall  need  it  not,'  said  the  Princess  Ellera.  'No 
sun  will  shine  on  me  any  more.  On  me  no  rain  will 
fall.  I  shall  die  if  I  find  nothing  that  I  can  eat.' 

"'Take  it  Lelie,'  she  cried,  'As  thou  hast  lost  thy 
gourd,  take  it.' 

"  Upon  this  Lelie  took  Mustapha  away  and  placed  him 
in  a  quiet  corner  of  her  room. 

"Meanwhile  some  days  went  by,  and  all  the  cooks 
tried  in  vain  to  please  the  sick  Princess.  All  day  long 
7  D 


74  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

an  army  of  slaves  went  past  her  bed,  each  bearing  some 
rare  dish  or  some  luscious  fruit,  but  still  alas !  in  vain ; 
so  that  at  length  the  doctors  decided  that  if  she  did  not  eat 
within  a  day  she  would  surely  die. 

"  Lelie,  who  was  in  great  distress,  left  the  Princess  and 
went  to  her  own  room  to  weep  alone.  At  last  she  arose 
to  go  out  into  the  garden,  thinking  that  perhaps  the 
Princess  might  be  tempted  by  a  rose-leaf  salad. 

"As  she  walked  past  Mustapha  he  cried  aloud,  'Take 
me.' 

"'This  is  queer,'  said  she,  but  when  the  words  were 
repeated  she  clutched  the  Frankish  toy  and  ran  out  into 
the  garden.  Here  she  wandered  long,  but  as  evening 
fell  she  suddenly  saw  that  a  storm  had  gathered. 

"Before  she  could  reach  the  Palace,  a  wild  gust  of 
wind  caught  in  Mustapha's  skirts  and  nearly  tore  him 
from  her  hand.  As  she  struggled  the  wind  expanded  his 
petticoats,  and  at  last  crack  went  the  wires,  and  then 
what  do  you  think  ? 

"Mustapha  was  turned  inside  out,  and  the  umbrella 
was  a  man  once  more. 

"  In  a  moment  he  explained  everything,  but  after  he  had 
kissed  her  twice  she  began  to  sob,  for  now  she  knew  that 
he  had  escaped  one  evil  fate  only  to  light  upon  another  as 
fearful.  "  '  Ah  !'  she  cried,  '  a  man  !  You,  a  soldier,  in  the 
gardens  of  the  Palace !  You  will  be  put  to  death  at 
once.' 


MUSTAPHA,    OR    THE  MUSICAL    GOURD.        75 

"  '  No  !'  he  answered,  after  thinking  a  little.  '  Not  if  I 
can  save  the  Princess.  Let  us  go  to  the  Caliph  and  con 
fess  all.  Meanwhile  have  no  fears.' 

"  Lelie  at  last  gave  her  consent,  and  with  trembling 
steps  she  left  him,  and  seeking  the  Princess  related  their 
strange  story. 

"In  a  moment  all  was  confusion.  A  man  in  the 
harem ! 

"'Bowstrings  and  sacks!'  cried  the  captain  of  the 
guard,  as  he  hurried  Mustapha  before  the  Caliph. 

"'Wretch!'  said  Al  Raschid  the  Caliph,  'Who  art 
thou?' 

"  'A  soldier,'  said  Mustapha. 

"  '  Let  him  die  !'   cried  Al  Raschid. 

"  '  Oh  Caliph,'  answered  Mustapha, '  In  the  land  of  the 
Genii  it  was  given  me  once  to  learn  secrets  of  the  vile 
Franks,  wherewith  it  may  be  that  I  can  save  thy  daugh 
ter  the  Princess.' 

"'Thou  dost  lie  like  unto  a  rusty  weathercock,'  said 
the  Caliph,  '  But  that  none  may  say  I  am  unjust,  take  this 
man  to  the  kitchen.  Let  him  do  his  best,  and  if  he  fail 
have  him  strangled  instantly.' 

"  '  It  is  well  said,'  replied  Mustapha. 

"Very  soon  he  was  left  alone  in  the  great  kitchen  of 
the  Palace,  while  all  the  strange  things  he  had  seen  at 
the  feasts  of  the  Genii  came  back  to  his  mind. 

"Presently  he  sought  about  him  among  the  stores  of 


76  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

provisions,  and  took  from  a  basket  those  striped  apples 
which  grow  by  the  brooks  of  Alkeldrina. 

"These  he  pared  deftly  and  set  each  within  a  cup  of 
wheaten  dough,  such  as  only  the  Caliph's  farms  can  fur 
nish.  Therein  he  placed  also  the  golden  orange-peel  and 
the  spices  of  distant  Borneo.  Lastly,  he  sprinkled  it 
within  and  without  with  the  aromatic  sugar  of  Turkan, 
and  hanging  each  apple  thus  prepared  in  a  silken  net 
carefully  cooked  them. 

"When  they  were  ready  he  placed  them  upon  golden 
dishes,  and  threw  over  each  a  hail  of  snowy  sugar  and 
fragrant  cinnamon,  covering  all  with  a  handful  of  almond 
blossoms. 

"Then  he  called  the  guard,  and  with  scimetars  crossed 
over  his  head  he  was  allowed  to  carry  his  dish  to  the 
Princess.  As  she  looked  languidly  upon  it  he  shook  off 
the  blossoms. 

"'Then,'  said  the  Princess,  'These  be  the  roses  of 
Paradise  which  I  do  smell.' 

"At  these  words  he  knelt  down  and  offered  the  dish  to 
the  lady.  Wonderful  to  tell  the  Princess  called  for  a 
silver  fork  and  ate  up  the  whole  of  the  apples  so  greedily 
that  she  scalded  her  throat  in  the  most  dreadful  way. 

"But  between  every  mouthful  she  blessed  poor  Mus- 
tapha  as  the  king  of  cooks,  and  from  that  instant  she 
recovered  so  quickly  as  to  disgust  all  the  doctors,  who 
said  Mustapha  was  a  quack,  and  went  away. 


FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT.  7.7 

"Of  course  he  married  Lelie,  and  had  a  patent  for 
making  this  wonderful  dish,  and  was  created  Lord 
Marquis  of  Apple-butter  and  Duke  of  Dumplings,  and 
lived  merrily  all  his  days." 

"That's  a  good  story,"  cried  the  spiders. 

"  Glad  you  like  it,"  said  Fuz-Buz.  "Now  if  you  please 
I  will  sleep,  as  I  am  tired." 

In  this  pleasant  way  the  days  went  by  until  Fuz-buz 
had  told  them  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  stories. 

On  this  last  evening  he  overheard  the  spiders  talking 
as  he  lay  tied  by  the  leg  in  a  deep  dark  crack  of  the 
apple  tree  where  he  slept. 

"My  children,"  said  the  old  spider,  "After  Fuz-Buz 
has  told  us  one  more  story  we  will  eat  him.  It  will  be 
best  to  wait  until  after  dark,  and  then  seize  him  on  a  sud 
den  and  kill  him ;  for  he  is  a  very  strong  fly,  and  may 
give  me  trouble." 

They  all  agreed  to  this  excepting  the  youngest,  who 
said  it  would  be  a  shame  to  serve  him  so,  and  that  they 
ought  to  let  him  go. 

But  Mrs.  Grabem  replied,  "You  know  nothing  of 
house-keeping  my  dear.  Go  to  sleep  and  hold  your 
tongue." 

When  Fuz-Buz  overheard  all  this  he  was  scared  to 
death.  All  next  day  he  was  so  sick  that  he  could  not 

even  tell  the  shortest  story. 

7* 


78  FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLT. 

At  night-fall  when  the  family  had  gone  to  their  den,  he 
sat  on  the  tree  near  his  cosy  little  crack  and  tried  to  gnaw 
the  web  which  held  him. 

Unluckily  it  was  too  tough.  When  he  was  in  despair 
who  should  hum  by  but  a  huge  Bee. 

"  Halloa  !"   said  he,  "  What's  wrong  with  you  ?" 

"Sir!"  replied  Fuz-Buz,  "I  am  tied  by  the  leg  to  this 
web,  and  am  to  be  eaten  to-night  by  a  cruel  monster  of  a 
spider  who  lives  near,  and  who  will  overhear  you  if  you 
do  not  speak  in  a  low  voice." 

"Who's  afraid?"  said  the  Bee.     "Which  leg  is  it?" 

"  This,"  answered  Fuz-Buz. 

"Pshaw  !"  cried  the  Bee,  and  with  that  he  twisted  the 
web  about  his  legs  and  gave  a  jump.  Snap  went  the 
line  and  Fuz-buz  was  free  once  more.  Never  a  fly  was 
so  glad  as  he. 

"Sir!"  he  said,  "I  am  only  sorry  that  you  have  not 
had  the  honour  to  slay  this  vile  spider.  Now  if  you  were 
to  slip  into  this  crack  where  I  sleep,  you  would  have  a 
fine  chance,  because  when  Mrs.  Grabem  comes  to  eat 
me  you  could  give  her  a  pleasing  surprise." 

"  That's  a  rather  jolly  notion,"  answered  the  Bee.  So 
he  went  down  on  the  ground,  and  after  sharpening  his 
sting  on  a  smooth  pebble,  thrust  himself  deep  into  the 
crack  where  Fuz-Buz  was  wont  to  sleep. 

But  as  for  Fuz-Buz  the  fly,  he  sat  on  a  limb  above  and 
looked  on.  After  a  little,  when  it  was  dark  or  nearly  so, 


FUZ-BUZ,    THE  FLY.  79 

out  came  Mrs.  Grabem  slowly,  and  crawling  over  her 
web  went  down  into  the  crack  to  murder  poor  innocent 
Fuz-Buz.  Presently  she  cried  aloud, 

"  Oh  !  I'm  dead  !"  which  was  true  in  a  moment,  for  Sir 
Bee  had  run  his  long  sword  straight  through  her,  and  she 
had  tumbled  off  the  tree  as  dead  as  could  be. 

At  the  sound  of  her  voice  all  the  young  spiders  ran  out, 
and  in  a  moment  they  saw  Sir  Bee  with  his  quick  sword. 
In  a  twinkling  he  stabbed  them  one  after  another,  until 
he  came  to  the  youngest.  Then  Fuz-Buz  said, 

"  Halloa !  my  friend,  let  this  one  go,  for  he  was  the 
only  one  who  did  not  desire  to  kill  me." 

"  Sir !"  cried  the  youngest  spider,  "  I  do  not  wish  to 
live  after  you  have  killed  my  mother  and  all  my  brothers 
and  sisters.  Take  that,  sir  !" 

So  saying  he  dealt  the  Bee  such  a  crack  that  he  was 
forced  to  stab  him  like  the  rest,  and  there  at  last  was  the 
end  of  all  of  them. 

As  for  Fuz-Buz  he  said  "Well,  it's  one  spider  less, 
and  so  many  flies  more.  Spiders  are  of  no  use  and  flies 
are." 

Meanwhile  Sir  Bee  wiped  his  sword  and  took  up  his 
bag  of  honey,  feeling  that  he  had  done  a  clever  day's 
work,  while  Fuz-Buz  flew  away  to  Spain,  and  never 
could  be  brought  to  tell  anybody  a  story  long  or  short  up 
to  the  end  of  his  happy  life. 


'•i 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


LD  21A-50m-3,'62 
(C7097slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


